Stolen Time
by SilverKitsune2017
Summary: One hundred years after the destruction of Inari, Saruta acts as the capital of Konoha after countless decades of brutal warfare. Though the dust is settling and the fighting has largely ceased, a stasis pod is discovered by some of Konoha's best field agents, revealing contents that could change recorded history forever. Project Nightingale is still active.
1. Chapter 1

Stolen Time

**Authors' Note:** This is a collaboration between myself and celestia193. It's also a YAOI story. That means there will be male x male romantic pairings involved. If any of that bothers you, you might want to turn back now. For those still here, we hope you enjoy this story and reviews are always appreciated.

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Naruto or make any profit off of our fanfics.

Chapter 1

The doors to the bio-engineering lab swing open and a young lieutenant walks into the laboratory filled with half-moon console stations, work platforms, and no shortage of engineers working on the latest wave of bionic implants. It was sixty years since the studies resumed after the destruction of Inari, but they'd come a long way since then even without all of the knowledge lost to the fires of that explosion.

Not that Sasuke would know anything about that. Anyone who lived in that time and could remember seeing the giant fiery cloud on the horizon would be at least a hundred years old by now. Sure, he knew that he'd lost family in that attack, but it was so far removed from now that it seemed more like a legend than anything. At least, until now when he would finally get to go and see the ruins for himself.

His eyes flash red for a brief moment as he searches the lab, but dim again as he smirks and heads for the half circle of consoles stashed away next to a work platform in the corner. As usual, his brother was hard at work picking away at the programming of whatever his next design was going to be. Such a perfectionist. Sasuke had told Itachi time and time again that he would test the prototypes for him, but Itachi always insisted that they be tested and perfected first before Sasuke could have them.

Sasuke's gaze flicks to the newest programming codes as he sits on the powered down portion of the consoles. "New project?"

"More like an old one. We've been working on trying to figure out how to do regeneration modifications for as long as I've been here and well before." Itachi sighs, determination still etched into his face. Upon seeing Sasuke, however, his furrowed brows relax and he smiles. "Sadly, the technology was lost to us in Inari and we just can't seem to replicate it. Once we do though, it's going to be tremendously useful."

"Do you think there might be anything left in Inari to find that might help?" Sasuke's mission would be leaving soon. Maybe if Itachi gave him a clue about what to look for, he could bring back something that could give Itachi the clue he needed. "The radiation has finally cleared out and they've lifted the restrictions on going in and out for exploration squads. We'll finally have a chance to sift through whatever's left."

"I don't know, maybe. Honestly though, I wouldn't even be sure what to look for." Modifications was Itachi's specialty. If he didn't know what they used for regeneration, how could he possibly expect Sasuke to when his brother's vocation was so different from his own? "I hope that you find something useful, though. Be safe, and make sure to use the locater mod I gave you. No one has been there in decades. Anyone could get lost."

Sasuke rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. "I'm not sure why you expect me to get lost. The reports say that the city was flattened, there's barely anything left standing at all. I should be able to see for miles around as long as I get up onto something that fell over when the blast hit."

Itachi pokes the young man's forehead and scoffs. "I hope those reports are accurate, but it is better to exercise caution. I've only got one baby brother, Sasuke, I don't want to lose you. Even if you are a stuffed animal stealer." Yes. Itachi still remembered Sasuke 'borrowing' his favorite stuffed animal as children.

"Hn." Sasuke scoffs softly and rubs his forehead. "You're the one who let me steal it." If Itachi really hadn't wanted to share, she would have hidden it somewhere Sasuke couldn't find it, instead of just leaving it right there on his bed. "Fine, I'll be careful. But I do know how to take care of myself." He fingers the holstered gun at his hip. "And if there's anything waiting for us out there, it'll be gone in two seconds."

"Of course. I'm glad to hear it." He smiles at his brother fondly. It was hard to grasp the idea that somewhere along the way, Sasuke had grown up, and he was a lieutenant now. "I indulged you and you'll just have to indulge me by being careful. How are your modifications working?"

"The implants are working fine." They were doing fantastic, actually. Sasuke's world had never felt so alive and vibrant before he'd been outfitted with his bionic implants. "Of course, I'm still waiting for you to give me laser vision, but it sounds like that's not happening any time soon."

"You can be such a brat sometimes." Itachi rolls his eyes, but there was no malice in it. "Good. I'm glad they're up to par. Try to keep Karin and Suigetsu from killing each other or at least get out of the line of fire. Those two are absurd. You'd think they were still cadets sometimes. At least Jugo knows how to conduct himself professionally."

"I think I'll leave that to Kakashi this time." Normally, Sasuke would have to deal with their antics himself. But since they were taking two teams this time, Sasuke was more than willing to pawn off that duty onto someone else. "Kakashi decided that he wanted all six of us this time so that we could cover more ground."

"Smart move on his part." Of course, knowing Kakashi...Itachi was under no illusions what that meant. "He'll send your team out to do the legwork while he reads his romance novels."

Sasuke deadpans comically. "Of course he is. Who expects any differently?" After training under the man since he was twelve and in mock boot camps, right up into his serious academy training, Sasuke knew better than to expect Kakashi to take all but the most dangerous missions seriously.

"Precisely. I'm relieved to hear you understand what his style of leadership is. Oh, you can give these to your team if you like." He gestures to a box of chocolates. "Better than letting them go to waste." Itachi liked chocolate, but he could only eat so much and for some reason everyone thought chocolate was the best way to charm him. Once upon a time, Sasuke had endured a similar fate until his foolish little brother's temper had made most of his admirers suitably skittish.

"Naruto and Suigetsu will definitely devour them." Sasuke picks up the box and tucks it into his mission pack. "But maybe it'll help to keep them quiet while we're out there surveying." Or maybe they would just fight over it with each other and stay out of his way.

"Sounds about right. So, did they give you anymore briefings on the mission?" Itachi tilts his head, not sure if Sasuke would be allowed to say even if they did.

Sasuke hesitates for just a moment, choosing his words carefully. "They did, I went in just an hour ago for another one. It might be nothing, but if we find something, we might be bringing it here to you in the lab. More than that…" He just couldn't say without violating the mission's secretive nature. Itachi was allowed to know where he was going and vaguely what he was doing, but not the specifics, not yet.

"Sounds intriguing and perhaps a bit concerning." He watches Sasuke with wary eyes, but curiosity was at war with his more cautious instincts. "I look forward to hearing all about it one way or another."

Slowly, Sasuke locks eyes with his brother, carrying a hard, determined look in the onyx depths. "Yeah, I'm sure that you will."

They just had to find what set off the remote sensors, first.

* * *

It was obvious to see why they'd been outfitted in survival gear for this mission. Calling this place a disaster zone would be vastly understating the ruin of the massive city. Five days in and they'd barely scratched the surface.

Fortunately, scratching the surface was all they were meant to do here, because the team had split up into pairs to work on homing in on the strange energy signature that was faintly appearing on their scans. The pulsing had begun months ago, when the last of the radiation cleared out. Though Sasuke thought it was more likely that it just became visible to their scans because of the lack of interference, and because they could finally move the probes in closer.

"Pick up the pace, Loser." Was it smart for Sasuke to call their leader's son that? Probably not. Was that going to stop him? Not at all. "We're getting closer to the power fluctuations." That should mean that the two of them had wandered off in the right direction. Not that much direction existed when everything was gray and charred and it was impossible to tell where one destroyed building ended and the next began.

"Stop call me that, Bastard!" Naruto rolls his eyes as he keeps pace with Sasuke. His eyes widening at the sheer devastation. "I mean, I read about it, but seeing it in person is...spooky. I can't believe people used to live here." It was sickening to imagine people just going about their normal lives and then...nothing.

"Yeah, but it's not like we're going to run into any of them." It was like this whole place was just filled with ghosts. Not that Sasuke believed in those sorts of things, but… "Come on, let's try in the next ditch." He vaults over a fallen pillar and lands on a bare patch of scorched earth. And as expected, the readings on the scanner only get stronger and stronger. "There's got to be something intact around here."

"Y-You don't think there are actually g-ghosts here, do you?" Naruto watches Sasuke with panic growing in his baby blues eyes. "That's just kid stuff, right? Even if there were ghosts, I mean they'd wanna hang out somewhere else. Right?" He follows Sasuke, trying to shake the unnerving feeling off.

"Yeah, you're the only one who actually believes in ghost stories these days." Sasuke peers underneath some rubble as the cross into the outer ring of the city. There weren't as many tall buildings out this way, but the ones that had been here were strong and sturdy, and some of it only mostly collapsed. Small, stubborn section were still clinging to some sort of form. "Hey, Loser, I think I see a door under here." And it wasn't one that had been blown over.

Sasuke grips the edge of a piece of rubble and starts to dislodge it, despite the fact that it clearly weighed a good tonne. Eyesight, hearing, speed, strength. The beauty of the bionic implants was in the vast enhancements to performance that could be made in both ordinary and extraordinary soldiers.

"Coming!" Naruto darts over and helps Sasuke with dislodging it. "We've got this, Bastard. I wonder what it is." It could be anything. A million scenarios dance in his mind, but the blond could only hope that it wasn't a ghost.

"A hidden room, obviously." And one that looks like it might have survived the blasts. At least from the outside. Sasuke couldn't say whether or not anything inside had survived. If it were people…there was no chance that a bunker like this would have protected them. Not from starvation.

The rubble gives way, falling away from the doors built into what remained of a steel floor. Sasuke frowns as he examines the shattered lock. It didn't look like anyone had gotten in there, but whatever security measures there were were obviously long gone. Sasuke wiggles his fingers into the hand of the door. "Naruto, cover me." They couldn't be too careful.

"You got it!" Naruto nods at Sasuke, following his friend. For once, the bubbly blond had decided to go silent. A strange mixture of excitement and dread washing over him.

Sasuke yanks the door open, nearly taking it off its hinges as it bangs against the steel and concrete. A dim glow greets them, which was a surprise, and yet not. "This must be where the energy is coming from." Only one place in the city had the lights still on, and it was right down in there.

He steps down into the darkness, holding onto the wall for stability as the noise and smell of dust and ash falls away. The place was musty and a little damp, unlike the dry, hot air outside. Were they standing just above one of the old hot springs?

Pale fingers reach for a flashlight and Sasuke shines it ahead of them as he draws his gun. It was definitely a bunker, and a well-reinforced one, even if the walls were slightly cracked. It had withstood the devastation and age well. "There's definitely something down here." There had to be. There's no reason that someone would go to all the trouble of keeping the lights on down here, even through a bombing that flattened the city if there wasn't something worth protecting.

"That's...incredible. There's still electricity?" Naruto stares in awe as goosebumps form along his skin. "How...it's been decades and no one has been around to keep the lights on...?"

Sasuke blinks, then a few things click into place. "They say that Inari used to have hot springs. If this place is running its own generator off that geothermal power, then that would explain why there's still light here." And light meant investment. He shines his flashlight across the wall until he finds a control pad. One touch sets it glowing, a second nearly sparks Sasuke, but brightens the lights from a dim glow to laboratory strength lighting. And laboratory indeed…

In the center of the room sits a pod encircled by two rings of computer consoles almost perfectly intact. But that pod… "Is that a stasis pod?" Sasuke hadn't seen one like that…ever. It was completely different to all of the medical stasis pods he'd seen in the hazardous diseases wing of the hospital back home.

"Yeah. It's a stasis pod, but it's really old." Naruto's feet move of their own accord. He had to know. "Someone had to be in it, but there's no way they could be alive now...right? Still, we should at least give them a proper burial..." Well, at least that's what Naruto was planning on, until he looks into the pod. "Holy Konoha! Sasuke, Sasuke! You've gotta see this. The body is totally intact!"

"That's not possible." Sure, the pod might be intact, but there's no way that a body would have survived the radiation unless there were strong shields around it. Sasuke frowns as he looks into the pod, then he wipes away some of the moisture to look at the face of the one inside. His fingers tingle as he touches the pod, and though he successfully clears the glass, it was evident that his assumption was wrong because it was also right. "There's radiation shielding built into this pod."

Obviously someone had gone to insane lengths to protect the body inside this pod. The man inside didn't look like he was breathing, but Sasuke wasn't sure if that meant he was dead or not. For all they knew, cracking the pod open could release the most heinous smell of all time. Or it might pop out a living person instead. "We need to get a pod power source in here and lift this out and back to headquarters." There was no way that they could just leave the body here.

"Got it. I'll call in." Naruto nods, taking out his communication device. "We've got...something here. We need a pod power source device sound to our location ASAP. I can't believe I'm saying this, but we've got a body. Unknown if it's dead or alive. Physically intact at first glance. We haven't made any efforts to open the pod. Come in, HQ."

The communicator hums softly, then a woman's firm, gentle voice responds. "Alright, we'll send one your way. Be sure to update us in case there are any changes in the pod's status or in the condition of the body."

"Definitely. I still can't believe this, but there's a chance he might be alive. Slim, but still. Body appears to be male at first glance." Naruto rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Not like we officially checked, but you know what I mean. We'll be waiting."

Sasuke barely listens as the connection cuts out, his attention still firmly focused on the man's face. Definitely a man, likely a little older than Itachi, with wild curls of ebony hair. There was something…familiar about him. It was a shame he was probably dead, but their mission was just to bring back whatever was in this room and sending off the energy signal, not escort a live subject back to headquarters. "Alright, time to pack up. Let's grab everything else and get out of here." A ship would be here within the hour with the equipment necessary to transport a pod. Once they had cleaned this place out, their job was done.

* * *

It was hard to focus on anything other than Sasuke being out at that site, but Itachi tries his best. After all, this modification would be a major breakthrough if he could manage it.

The seconds bleed into minutes and the minutes oozed into hours. Eventually, he got lost in the challenge of work and manages to shove his concerns back until he hears the sounds of familiar footsteps approaching. His brother wasn't the only one modified hearing. "You're back! How did it go?"

Sasuke's eyes flick towards his brother, his ears perked up even when still fifty feet away. But he was closing the gap quickly. "We definitely found something." He glances down at the pod now hovering off the ground between him and Kakashi. "Itachi, the team is going to take him to the medical lab. We can go to the viewing gallery to talk." He'd been cleared to talk about it. After all, there was no way that this was going to stay a secret anyway.

"Him?" Itachi couldn't believe his ears. "You found someone there?" Who would be crazy enough to go there. "Was it some child who wandered off to explore or something?" Fuck. He could only hope the radiation levels were as low as the readings indicated. Otherwise if that was the case, the kid was done for. "I'm coming." He immediately abandons his post and turns on heels to meet Sasuke in the gallery.

"No, it's not a kid." Sasuke opens the door to the gallery as the team wheels the pod into the lab. He glances at his brother who walks in opposite him, then turns his gaze onto the stasis pod being unloaded and hooked up to a new power source before being taken off the temporary one. "He's not a child, and there was definitely no wandering or accidents involved." Sasuke crosses his arms as supports are rushed in and the pod is stood upright. "It's a stasis pod, Itachi, but it's nothing like the ones we use here."

He'd never heard anything more fantastical in his life, but Itachi couldn't deny the evidence before his eyes. "I'm...amazed. That pod has to be over a century old at least. I doubt someone would hide a pod there after the blast." He stares at the pod being brought inside in awe. "Though...I suspect it's even older."

"He looks like he was only a bit older than you when someone put him in there. We're know that it's functional enough that he's still preserved in there, but even if the pod was shielded against radiation, there's not much chance that he's-" Sasuke frowns as the pod beeps once, twice, and then starts beeping rhythmically, just like a heartbeat.

"If it was protected from radiation, his body was preserved, and there was some source of power...the odds are slim, but..." Itachi swallows hard at the sound, glancing at Sasuke. "it's possible. Am I going crazy or...did you hear that? The beeping?"

"That's not possible…" They had tossed around the idea of course, but there's no way that he could still be alive in there, could he?

Sasuke shakes his head to clear it, but the increase in activity on the floor is unmistakable. One of the resident doctors races into the room and shoos the retrieval team away as she fiddles with the screen showing vital signs. Live vital signs. "You're not going crazy." Not unless they were all going crazy. "He's still alive in there." But how? He had to be at least a hundred years old, and until recently, pods weren't meant to hold occupants for nearly so long. Even now, holding a patient for over a century was…unbelievable.

"This is unbelievable." He was alive. Whoever he was, the man was alive and had been encased in a pod for at least a century. Likely more. Never before had Itachi been rendered so speechless.

But Sasuke did not suffer from such impairments. "You know that they're going to have to quarantine him and keep him comatose. He could be carrying pathogens we've never even seen before." As much as Sasuke didn't like the security measures, they were necessary and he knew very well why. "And they're going to put him through a hundred tests before they even let him wake up. If he can." There was every chance that the man was brain-dead by now.

"I know that, but the man has beaten the odds. It would be cruel if his body survived all that, but his mind did not." Itachi frowns. A thousand possibilities were whirling inside his mind. "Even if that is the case though, I cannot imagine his terror and confusion..."

"Either way, it's not going to be pretty." Sasuke couldn't even begin to fathom who this person was. He just knew that the man looked eerily familiar. And he would surely get a better look at the man once they cracked the pod open. But the medical team seemed to be ensuring that there was a secure gurney available and ready to take the man. "Why do you think he would have been put in stasis? It had to have happened before the bombs hit Inari, but how could they have known that the city was going to be destroyed? And why him?"

"Maybe we weren't aware of the full history of what happened." Itachi's brows furrow. It was a disturbing possibility, but one he couldn't overlook. "Perhaps they knew that the attack was going to happen, but not when and people were planning to wait it out? But most didn't get to their pods in time. If that's the case, there should be more pod remains...or perhaps he was put into stasis for an entirely different reason. I hope that he's...that his mind is intact. There are so many questions."

"There were no other pods." At least none that had shown up on their scanners. Sasuke had been on scanning duty when they flew over the city again. Nothing. "The energy signature coming off his pod was the one thing detectable in the city. That's what we were sent out to collect. We just didn't know that it was a pod."

"He must have been someone important. Whoever he is, the man has been in a pod for at least a hundred years. That was a lot of effort to go through to preserve a body." So, it likely wasn't a planned event for the populace to take shelter then. Still, what could justify such a reaction? "That implies his status was possibly unrelated to the attack. Perhaps he was just a wealthy person who came down with a serious condition and they wanted to freeze him until a cure could be found?"

Kakashi, down in the lab with a medical team, flashes a sign at Sasuke, one that he knew well. The teams often used hand signals while on missions when they didn't want to be heard. But in this context… Check his implants? But his implants were fine, he'd had them checked a week before they left on the mission. Everything was fine, so why would Kakashi be talking about… Shit. "He's got bionic implants? That can't be right." But the look on Kakashi's face as he nods and turns away…there was no mistaking it.

Itachi knew that sign well enough, but the implications were as disturbing as they were fascinating. Not only had the man been put in stasis for far longer than should have been possible, but he had old implants? While implants were standard in the military and increasingly common in the civilian population, they had been almost unheard of in the stasis man's day. That could mean only one thing. "The surprises just keep coming." He glances at Sasuke, knowing his little brother could read between the lines just as well as Itachi could. The man had been military.

"Yeah, it looks like we're going to have to be careful and keep him restrained." And Sasuke knew that they would be tightening security by a factor of ten just to make sure nothing happened to this man until they could get answers out of the man that the doctors were transferring from the pod to the gurney and strapping down. "They'll probably bring you in to analyze his implants." Itachi was already here, already knew. They wouldn't risk bringing in others until they had the full story.

"Most likely. Is it selfish to say that makes me happy in a way?" Itachi was just as curious as the next person. "The man is living history from a period that we know almost nothing about. There are so many things we could learn from him and honestly, he deserves a second chance at life."

"Assuming that he's an ally." Sasuke knew what would happen to him if it turned out this man was an enemy. "…He looks familiar." There was just…something about him that made Sasuke think of Itachi, of their parents, of…their extended family in general. But this man's face was not one that was in any of the old family trees.

"He was found in our territory and someone went through remarkable effort to preserve him. It doesn't look like something an enemy would do if they knew they were going to make the era uninhabitable for decades." What would be the benefit? They had no real way of knowing that the body would last that long. The technology shouldn't have lasted that long and yet, it had. "Either way, you're right. As much as it pains me to say this given what he's been through, it is always beneficial to be cautious. Many years have passed to us, but to him he still lives during a time when an active war was being waged."

"…Then we'll be prepared." And if it turned out this guy was dangerous, Sasuke would be the first one to take him out. "Come on, they'll be busy with him for a while and you won't see him for at least a week or two. Let's go get something to eat. I'm starving." Sasuke would take their cafeteria food over the rations they were eating. Travel food was nowhere near what the chefs here could cook up.

"Only you could think about food at a time like this, but you're right. They won't allow anyone to go near him for quite some time." Itachi sighs, shaking his head. The discovery of a lifetime and Sasuke was focused on his stomach? "So, we may as well get some food as you said."

"Hn." Sasuke grumbles irritably. "I guarantee that Naruto and Suigetsu are already there. We were out there scouring the place for five days and eating only travel food, of course we're hungry."

"I do have to admit our provisions are rather...unsatisfying to the cafeteria's fare and you're likely right about your comrades." Itachi shakes his head with amusement. Sasuke certainly worked with some interesting characters.

"Of course I'm right." Sasuke was a genius after all. He was supposed to be right about things. Just like how he was pretty sure that things were about to get a lot more complicated. All because of one nameless soldier pulled out of an ancient stasis pod.


	2. Chapter 2

Stolen Time

**Authors' Note:** Thanks for the reviews. We hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 2

Itachi glances at all the monitors once again for what seemed like the thousandth time this day. The experience was so surreal that he was beginning to wonder if he was dreaming. Not only had the pod survived, but so had the 'Patient's X's' body. After running what was no doubt every test they could think on 'Patient X,' it was determined he wasn't suffering from any diseases. Everything about his physical form was almost unbelievably healthy for anyone, let alone a man who had been in an antique stasis pod.

"Well, your readings are all normal." Itachi sighs as he marks the information down yet again before looking at Patient X. Not only were his vitals exceptional all things considered, there was no denying he was attractive. He'd always had a fondness for history, but never had he seen it up close and personal and generally, his history books didn't include pictures of men with gorgeous bodies and enchanting eyelashes. "All in all I'm not sure why you haven't woken up. The brain waves are also normal..." He wasn't brain-dead. That much was for sure.

The young man's fingers flex slowly, curling in for a moment before relaxing again. A huffed breath, louder than any of his breaths before, passes his lips and fills the air above his face. The steady flow of air blows a few stray strands of curly ebony hair from his face, where they hang low enough to touch his cheekbones.

Itachi stares. For a painful instant, his own heart skips several beats. "Are you awake? Can you understand me?" It was a long shot. His words were little more than a whisper. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten Patient X even more than he likely would be...assuming he was coherent.

His chest expands with a large breath, then he sighs and tilts his head to the side, towards Itachi. Slowly, long eyelashes flutter, and dark eyes open just a crack. "…" His eyes open a fraction more, unfocused and dull after so long asleep.

Itachi immediately dims the lights. "There. Does that help?" It was a miracle. He had opened his eyes. Slightly, but still. "You're alright. You're safe now." It was painful, not knowing if the other man could even understand Itachi's words at this point, but maybe his tone would get his meaning across...even if his words didn't.

Slowly, the dark eyes open a little wider, and even more slowly they begin to turn up towards the source of the voice above him. He blinks once, then twice, then a third time as he straightens his head and settles his gaze directly on the long-haired man before him.

"I guess that's a yes. My name is Itachi. Can you tell me yours?" It was a long shot, but he had to at least try.

His lips move, but only a soft, garbled sound leaves them, immediately prompting him to close his mouth again. Seemingly unable to speak, he merely stares at Itachi for a moment, then allows his gaze to flick around the room, taking in all of its contents. It looked like a technology lab, but not one like he had ever seen before.

Itachi casts him a sympathetic look at Shisui. "It's alright, if you can't. You haven't used your vocal cords in a long time." Alright. So he couldn't speak or at least not yet, but clearly Patient X was coherent. His gaze was too purposeful for it to be by chance.

He closes his eyes once more, then allows his lips to form another word entirely, one that he did not need so much of his voice to say. "…Shi…" The single syllable comes out in a long, staggered sigh. It was not the name he meant to give, but it would do.

"Your name is Shi." Well, it was better than Patient X. "I know that you must be very confused right now. Likely frightened, but I mean you no harm. I'll be happy to answer as many of your questions as I can once you're able to voice them or write them."

Shi moves his wrist slightly, only to find it bound. He glances down at the binding, blinks once, then relaxes his wrist and lets it go. He looks back to Itachi's face, seemingly unperturbed by the fact that he was clearly a prisoner.

"I'm sorry. It was a precaution." Itachi looks at the bindings guilty. "You were in stasis so long, there was no telling how you would react. It was for your protection as much as ours. If you tried to run in a panic...you might have hurt yourself."

Shi nods, then swallows and opens his mouth again, his voice only a whisper. "Or you." With barely a hint of movement beneath the pale skin, his muscles work to warm his voicebox. It was…inconvenient communicating without use of his hands or his voice.

"That's true as well. I won't deny that was a factor." Itachi sighs, not sure what to make of the man. He was reacting exceptionally well all things considered. Ideally, really. "If you like...I can set up an IV to get some nutrition in your system or try, try to feed you, or get a medical personnel to assist. Are you hungry or thirsty, perhaps?" He needed to establish trust somehow and it was a legitimate concern.

Shi's gaze darkens slightly. It take him a minute, but he warms his throat up enough for a few words. "Food. Water. No saline drip. Just you." The fewer people who saw him awake, the better.

"Alright. I'll be back in a few minutes. Just me and no drip." Itachi nods, waiting a moment to make sure Shi understood him before heading off in search of nutrition for the medical miracle.

The moment the door closes behind Itachi, Shi's gaze sharpens and he looks about the room, memorizing every detail. His eyes glow red as his visual implants photograph every inch of the room he can see from where he rests restrained on the bed. If they insisted on trying to keep him imprisoned, then they would find out just how wrong they were about their ability to do that.

His gaze falls to where his personal effects sit in a pile on the table. A thin, elliptical metal tube sits among them and it looked untouched. Perhaps they didn't know what it was. After all…it was made just for him.

* * *

Itachi returns carrying a tray. On it a bowl of tomato soup, a water bottle, and a spoon. "I figured it was best to start with something liquid to be on the safe side. How does tomato soup sound?"

Shi's gaze drops to the soup and his eyes glow red as statistics and data crowd his line of sight. Organic, vegetable with dairy, no poison. With a blink, his irises fade back to onyx and he relaxes back against the flat bed within his paltry restraints. "It sounds fine."

"Your voice seems to be coming back to you quickly." Itachi smiles as he sits on the bed. "The soup is warm. I tried not to make it too hot." He grabs a spoonful and places it by Shi's mouth. "I hope you like it. If you don't, I can always get you something else."

Shi tilts his head up to loosen and straighten out his throat, otherwise the soup was liable to go down the wrong way. "It's fine." He sips at the soup carefully, letting it roll over his tongue to cool before letting it trickle down his throat.

"Good." It a marvel really, Itachi had never seen anything like it before. "You're a miracle, you know. A million times over." He gives Shi another spoonful.

Shi sips down the mouthful and feigns curiosity. "I am?" Though perhaps it wasn't entirely feigned. He wasn't curious per say, but there was much to be learned and quickly. And this man named Itachi seemed to be more than happy to tell him whatever he wanted to know.

"Yes, I don't want to overwhelm you, but the fact you survived for so long in that pod...and appear to be in perfect health at first blush is...astonishing." Itachi tilts his head as he mulls it over, giving Shi a sip of water.

A pod? Shi remembered nothing about being in a pod, but he supposed that a captor would say anything to try to spin a story for him. Though he wonders what sort of story it would be this time. "How long?"

"We don't know yet...what year do you believe it is?" It was a stretch if Shi could recall that much, but he seemed so remarkably calm. It was worth a shot.

"Year 3282." By Shi's count, it should be eight days until the start of spring. Which means that more attacks would be coming. Perhaps he could turn this capture into a sabotage mission before returning to General Uchiha and Lord Sarutobi.

"If you wish to know, I'll tell you the year." Itachi's gaze grows wary. That should have been impossible. A century was pushing the limits, but over three hundred years...it was unfathomable and yet, here Shi was. "Though I warn you it will be quite the shock." Perfectly healthy as far as he could see and in his right mind, but how long would that last...once he knew the truth?

Shi gazes at Itachi rather blankly. "No, it's fine." He had no desire to know what year his captors had decided it would be. It would change nothing in the end. Getting invested in whatever story they'd cooked up was not part of the plan. "Where am I?" He did not expect a truthful answer, but the subtle warmth behind his eyes would tell him what was truth and what was lie.

"You're in Saruta. To you...it's our new capital even though it's been quite some time since Inari was the capital." Itachi bites his lower lip watching Shi warily. There was no telling how he would react. "Currently as you've likely surmised you're in one of our medical labs for obvious reasons. This facility is a military headquarters."

Remaining impassive, Shi's gaze searches languidly for signs that Itachi was lying. But it looked like this man was an excellent liar. If it wasn't for the fact that he was visibly nervous, it would have been almost impossible to tell. "Military?" He wouldn't be able to pretend he wasn't, not if they'd seen his implants, but he could at least feign some ignorance.

"Yes, military. Though our operations are quite diverse." How could the man be so calm? "I know you have no real reason to trust me and I can't imagine how you must be feeling now, but you are safe. It might comfort you to know the active state of war that you knew has now grown into a cold war. The fighting isn't nearly as intense as it was the last time you were awake."

So this was the ploy, tricking him into believing that the war was over so that he would share the information he held. But he could play along, for now. "If the war is over, is this place still defended?" Shi needed to know what he would face on the way out.

"I said a cold war. Not that it was entirely over." Itachi sighs, sadness peppering his expression. "There are those who insist on testing the limits of the treaty. Skirmishes break out from time to time. Officially, we're at peace. In reality, well...not quite. We'd be idiots not to be defended."

"Hm…" So this place would be defended, but not likely as heavily as in active wartime. He would need to be careful. And he already had a few ideas in mind. Shi allows his gaze to return to the cooling bowl of soup in Itachi's hand. "May I have more?"

"Of course." Itachi smiles at him as he goes back to spoon-feeding Shi. "I'm sure they'll be able to tell by your vitals you're awake, but if you like I can ask them to let you adjust first. You're doing so well. I don't really want to subject you to a swarm of medical personnel's questioning, historians, and likely curious cadets...and their superiors." He laughs at that last part.

Shi swallows a spoonful of soup and nods, playing along easily. "I appreciate that. I don't think I'm ready for curious visitors yet." Now, he chooses to flash Itachi a soft smile. A simple smile could do wonders on a mission when applied at the right moment to the right target. "And…thank you for looking after me."

"Thank you for being so...calm? Though it's probably just as well I found you first." Itachi shakes his head, amusement dancing in his eyes. "The female medical personnel would be all over you if they saw that smile of yours."

"You flatter me." Shi sighs and lays back against the bed, the soup gone, giving him no more reason to try to sit up. Though he strains 'accidentally' against the restraints and starts in surprise, then shakes his head and settles back down. Still, his lips quirk into a smirk. "Maybe next time there will be less bondage involved."

"I suppose it's true what they say. It's always the quiet ones." The bondage comment even as a joke was...surprising. Itachi decides to take it as a good sign, though. Shi was feeling comfortable enough to make innuendoes now. "I don't like having to keep you restrained especially when you haven't really demonstrated any need for them, but I'd get a serious reprimand if I undid them without authorization. When you're feeling up to it, you can speak with one of the higher ups. I doubt they'll waste any time in undoing your restraints at this rate."

Shi smiles, even as he considers those words. It looked like they didn't know who he was, good. If they knew…Itachi would get much more than just a reprimand for letting him escape. The less they knew, the better. "I understand. It's alright."

"Good. So, I'm sure you have a lot of questions?" Itachi watches him. From bondage innuendo back to innocent angel again. Hmm.

Many, but Shi wasn't fool enough to think that he could ask half of them and get answers. "What do you do here? Apart from play nurse to captive audiences, I mean."

"I create and maintain body modifications. So, I suppose in a roundabout way one could almost consider me a medical personnel." Itachi shrugs in what he hoped was an innocent way. "No, I haven't added anything to your collection. I did check to ensure they were all running properly..."

Ice replaces the blood in Shi's veins but he keeps his voice light. "You're sure that you checked all of them?" No, it wasn't possible, he had some of the most secret pieces ever developed. Even if Itachi could see them, that didn't mean he knew what each and every one of them did. If he did, he would have had a surgical team come in and tear them out without mercy.

"Reasonably confident, yes." Itachi sighs, Shi was quite good but he couldn't completely hide the terror in his eyes. "They're all running as far as I can tell smoothly. You do have a few that I'm unfamiliar with and there were quite a few exotic locations. I won't lie and pretend that I wouldn't like to study them further. Anyone would, but you don't need to worry about being turned into a lab rat."

Reassured slightly, Shi huffs and closes his eyes. "If you've seen the number of implants I have, then you'll know that I'm quite used to being a lab rat." But he had volunteered. He was compatible. He'd allowed them to test the prototypes on him, then they made upgrades with new modifications. Others had gotten ill and even died, but he had a strong enough constitution to bear the strain and adapt. But at least some of his secrets were safe.

"Yes, I did get that impression. I don't know why and I can't pretend that I know exactly what you've endured, but somehow you're still alive and sane." He watches Shi close his eyes, not sure how to comfort him. "As I said, you're a marvel in many ways."

"Hm…thank you." Shi huffs quietly and allows his body to relax for now, because he knew the truth. He was still alive because he was strong and fast and intelligent. He fought to survive and clung to life when others couldn't. He took on missions that would have been suicide for anyone else. And he was still alive because…Shisui Uchiha was very good at what he did.

* * *

Shisui's eyes open to meet only dim light and an absence of any other presence in the room. By his count, it would have been about eight hours since he decided to take a nap. It was nearly three in the morning, now, more than late enough for most of the personnel to be asleep. Now was the time to leave. His eyes glow red as he locates the security cameras in the lab and sets the monitors on loop. No sense in giving himself away.

He glances down at the restraints binding him and smirks. He flexes his forearm and wrenches it upward with inhuman strength, tearing through the elastic cloth and leather binding with ease. His fingers make short work of the binding holding his other wrist, then those holding his feet. If they had really wanted to hold him, they would have tried harder.

He swings his legs about and flexes them to increase the circulation. His implants would take care of most of the work, but there was no reason that his biology couldn't lend a helping hand. By the standards of his peers, he was perfect, a true harmony of man and technology.

Shisui's eyes glow red as he scans the room and locates all of his belongings. It surprises him to find a whole bag of them stuffed into the drawer of…was that a stasis pod? He pauses, confused by its presence. Had they drugged him and used a stasis pod to transport and hold him? If so, how long had he been in there? That sort of pod was meant for short term storage, but it looked like someone had tinkered with it a lot.

But it didn't matter, in the end. Shisui's sole mission was to return home and present the intelligence he'd gathered to his uncle. He could come back later and blow this place to the moons. Or one of them at least.

He forces open the compartment of the pod and withdraws a carefully sealed bag. His fingers pull the zipper open and withdraw a set of fresh clothes, as well as his entire weapons arsenal. Speaking of which…

Shisui raises a hand and activates the electromagnetic pulse within the implant in his right palm. The elliptical tube leaves the pile of his insignificant personal effects and shoots into the palm of his hand, landing there with a soft thump. He runs his fingers over the foot and a half long tube and presses his thumb to the hilt. A line glows in a circle about four inches down from the top of the tube. Shisui grips it on either side and slides the tube open, revealing the hidden blade inside, fourteen inches long and wicked sharp.

After inspecting his blade, Shisui places it on the floor as he pulls off his clothes and changes into a tight, sleeveless high-collared shirt, loose black pants, and a few pieces of lightweight and blackened armor. He tugs on the long gloves that extend to just above his elbows and fits armguards over them. As resilient as he was, he would rather not take chances.

After fitting all of his weapons to their hidden places on his body, Shisui fastens an extra holster around his shoulder for the blade he carried. He slides the blade into its sheath and places it securely in the shoulder holster.

Shisui pulls on the high collar of his shirt and tugs it up towards his nose, but catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror and stops himself. He sighs and runs a hand through his messy hair. It looked like he'd been asleep for two or three months, he was a complete mess. No doubt his great-uncle would tease him the moment he got back.

…Oh well, he would deal with it when he was safely away from here. His implants needed time to shift into high efficiency, but not nearly long enough to warrant spending too much time in front of a mirror.

* * *

"Itachi." A pale hand grips Itachi's shoulder to shake him awake. There was no time for sleeping and his big brother needed to wake up NOW. "Itachi, get up."

Itachi wasn't sure how, but somewhere along the way he had managed to fall asleep or he must have. One minute he was peacefully sleeping and snuggling into the comfort of his various pillows and blanket and the next, Sasuke was waking him up. "Sasuke, it's three in the morning. Can't whatever it is wait a few hours?" He'd always prided himself on being something of an early bird, but 3 A.M. was ridiculous even by his standards.

No, it couldn't. "Your new friend escaped the medical lab." Sasuke throws Itachi's blanket aside and rummages quickly for a set of clothes for Itachi. "The whole headquarters is on a silent lockdown right now. We're pretty sure he's still here in the building, but one of the night patrols found the door to the labs cut open ten minutes ago."

"He cut open the door?" Itachi could feel his jaw practically hitting the ground. "How is that possible? There was nothing in that lab that was designed to take out a door and he was thoroughly searched for weapons, I'm assuming." Itachi frowns as a thought occurs to him. "He has a few modifications I couldn't identify. Damn it, one of them must have been a weapon mod." He quickly grabs the clothes and throws them on. "We have to get going."

Sasuke puts a hand on his gun as he leads the way out the door and into the corridor. "The pod's storage space was also cracked open. We think that whoever put him in there might have stocked him with weapons." If Sasuke was putting a soldier into stasis, he would do the same. "Normally I wouldn't involve you in this, but you're the one who spent the most time with him while he was awake." The only one, really. "So if there's any chance of talking him down from whatever he's planning on doing, it'll probably involve you."

"...He was entirely too cooperative. I suppose if it seems too good to be true, it probably is." Itachi rolls his eyes. Honestly, he should have known. Shi had been almost inhumanely perfectly behaved for someone in his position. He hadn't even cared about finding out what year it was. "I suppose we could always discuss bondage, though. That seems to interest him."

Sasuke glances at his brother in comically disgusted horror. "You're planning on flirting with him? Itachi, he's dangerous. He's clearly trained in infiltration and probably espionage. I know that you like to mind-fuck people for fun, but if you give him an opening, he might not be so nice about it."

"Sasuke, it was a joke. I highly doubt that would actually work and besides, no one actually knows what his sexual orientation is." While Itachi certainly didn't find it likely, the man could be asexual for all he really knew about Shi. "He made a jest about being tied up and never mind...I'll try to reason with him. I don't hold out much hope he won't do something stupid, but I'll try."

"…If he does something stupid, that's where your job ends and mine begins." Sasuke's mouth thins grimly. There was every chance that this could go entirely sideways. "He's figured out how to make it past the cameras. We don't know how, but he doesn't appear on any of them, and he hasn't been caught by any of the motion sensors either. We're hoping to catch him by following the signals of the electromagnets in his implants, but-" The communicator on Sasuke's shoulder beeps once, twice, then four more times. "Naruto? What is it?"

"We finally got a fix on his location. He's heading north and fast. Towards the northeastern exit!" Naruto's voice was bordering on panic.

That was near the cafeteria, one of the most heavily frequented but least defended places at headquarters. And in the middle of the night… "Got it, we'll be right there." Sasuke picks up the pace and turns the next corner heading east. "Itachi, take this." Sasuke hands Itachi his spare side-arm, the air of grim determination thickening around him. "You can set it for a heavy stun, but if he takes a shot at you, I won't hold back."

"Got it." Itachi takes it with an equally grim expression and fixes the setting within his gaze. "I'm heading off." Leaving his brother no time to protest, he makes a beeline towards the cafeteria.

"Itachi!" Sasuke leaps forward, but growls frustratedly as he's easily outpaced by his taller, longer-legged elder brother. "Damn it!" His voice echoes softly and disappears into the darkness.

He really hated it when Itachi did that.


	3. Chapter 3

Stolen Time

**Authors' Note:** Thanks for the reviews. We hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 3

Itachi did feel guilty about running off on Sasuke, but there was no time to waste. Every second that was ticking by was another Shi could escape, get hurt, or hurt someone else.

He was quite certain he had never run so fast in all his life as everything was little more than a blur as he makes his way to the cafeteria. Itachi was both relieved and terrified when he found Shi already there. "Shi, don't do anything stupid. I understand the impulse to run, but no one here is trying to hurt you."

Shisui stops his slow, quiet stroll towards freedom and glances over his shoulder. His eyes glow red in the dim, white light, and there is no softness or mercy to be found in his gaze. "Itachi." He reaches for the silver tube that had been removed from his person in the lab and withdraws his blade from within it. "And here I thought I'd disabled all of the security you set up to keep me imprisoned."

"You're smarter than this. Assuming you manage to survive this utterly suicidal stunt of yours, you'll be running into a world you know nothing about." Itachi's eyes narrow. That wasn't a look of someone who was going to be reasoned with, but he had to at least try. "You didn't want to know what year it was, but I'm going to tell you anyway. Year 3620. You were in that pod for three hundred and thirty-eight years. Whoever you were planning on running to is long since dead."

Despite his scans telling him that Itachi spoke only the truth, that wasn't possible. There was no pod that could hold someone continuously for over three centuries. "Prove it." Not that he expected the technician to be able to do that. "Prove it and I'll stop." Permanently.

"Alright. I'll prove it." Itachi watches the other man carefully. "Just look out the window. I imagine it's quite a different view than anything you've seen before." He'd seen images from Shi's era and they were nothing like now. Even the common modes of transportation would likely be considered fantastic by Shi's standards.

Shisui glances for a moment out the window as his visual implants photograph the scenery beyond. Then he turns his gaze back onto Itachi. He goes over the picture once, twice, thrice, and nothing looked familiar to him. "You've proven that I've never been here before. I don't know this location." He only knew that the trees were the type to be found in southern Konoha, as well as in the territories further south and to the east. That was a large geographic area. "And that Inari is north of here."

"That's accurate. So, do you believe me now?" Shi wasn't trying to run or attack him. That was progress.

Shisui's eyes narrow in suspicion. Itachi was either insane or the best liar Shisui had ever seen. And in Shisui's line of work, he'd seen more than a few. "No." And why should he? For a pod to work by a factor of four hundred times its limit was unheard of. "I don't." He tilts his wrist and raises his blade as the sound of running footsteps echoes down the halls, their owners no longer bothering to remain quiet.

"Drop your weapon!" Ruby eyes flash angrily as Sasuke rounds the corner and steps up beside Itachi with his gun raised and pointed at their escapee's head. A heart shot might be standard, but he was more than good enough to blast him in the head if it came to that.

"Shi, you survived centuries in that damn pod. You're a miracle. Are you really that eager to negate your second chance at life?" Itachi snarls at him, watching hopelessly as his brother aims his weapon at the other man.

Half a dozen weapons point at Shisui from various angles across the room, and he could see the positions of every single one, as well as which ways he would need to dodge if he wanted to live.

"Put your weapon down. If you try to hurt our fearless, grumpy leader's brother, we will kick your ass." Suigetsu thrusts his weapon forward for good measure.

The moment their guest moves to take a step back, the supervisor of their little raiding party decides that it's time to inject some diplomacy back into this strange sort of hostage negotiation. "Alright, how about we all calm down and take a deep breath, huh?" Kakashi steps out of the shadows closest to the window, drawing the gaze of their…guest. "I think you've done enough running now, Captain." That gaze widens, then hardens in suspicion.

"Captain?" Itachi's gaze flickers towards Kakashi. "What are you talking about?" How could Kakashi possibly know what rank Shi might have held? They hadn't gotten a full name out of him, let alone a complete profile about him.

"The tattoos on his shoulder." Kakashi, unarmed, raises a hand and points to their guest's left shoulder. "I did a little bit of digging after you told me what year he told you it should be, and I found the identification system used under Generals Senju and Uchiha to identify their highest ranking subordinates. A half-cupped spiral like that designates an officer rank, the stylized flames around it, a captain. Blue for the regular forces."

Kakashi's gaze flicks to their guest's face with interest. "But red was used for agents of the Black Ops. Which means that you were a squad captain and intelligence agent who served under General Madara Uchiha."

"Alright. So, he was a big deal way back when." Naruto glares at Shi. "That still doesn't give him any right to try to attack Itachi. Sasuke and I got him out of that damn pod and Itachi took care of him afterward and the first thing he does, first chance he gets, is aim a weapon at him? That's not cool!"

Shisui flicks his wrist, the threat of battle growing in the air. His scarlet gaze hardens into a defensive glare. So not only were the brats judging him, but their leader knew information that was meant to be top secret. Their agents were never meant to be seen, and the regular officers kept their tattoos covered at all times. It was meant to identify them…but only when they reached the morgue.

Kakashi holds up his hands and takes a step back. "It's alright, I'm not going to do anything to you. Everyone, stand down, there's no point in trying to shoot him." He could be dead before any of them managed to get a shot off. "It's futile, because in the same encrypted file, I found the safeguard implanted in your brain stem. A self-activated kill switch. If you hit that, all of the information collected in your data chips will be uploaded to a secure server, and then an electromagnetic pulse will shoot through your nervous system, killing you instantly. Am I right?"

Itachi stares in shock at those words. "No wonder you were idiotic enough to pull off a stunt like this. You had a hidden kill switch." The 'surprises' were never ending. Of course, Itachi knew that Shi was somehow military, but for some reason it had never really crossed his mind how high up the chain of command the other man might be, or what precautions might be in place to ensure the safety of the information he carried. An oversight on his part, clearly. "I will admit though that I am the bigger fool for falling for your composed act."

Shisui's gaze wavers only slightly as it turns to Itachi. "I was trained well." Well enough that his hand wasn't shaking, despite the fear creeping through him, shaking his foundations to their core. Because…what if they were telling the truth? His gaze flicks back to the silver-haired man. There were more important things to do now. Gather intelligence. "And you are?"

"Kakashi Hatake. I captain this bunch of rascals." Kakashi smiles thinly behind his mask, though suppresses a chuckle as he sees Sasuke scowl out of the corner of his eye. "Former captain in the Black Ops, but was transferred into the regular forces a while back because the Black Ops assignments were 'hard on my psyche'." Even if he didn't agree with Lord Namikaze's decision, he wouldn't regret taking up this bunch ever.

"He's also the man who just saved your life." Itachi watches Shisui. Maybe he didn't really have much right to feel betrayed by the other man's actions. Anyone would have tried to run, but they were still hurtful and he was still angry. It was probably a mercy that Kakashi had arrived with his usual banter. "In all honestly, Captain Hatake, you were likely transferred more due to your bad habit of being late than anything else. That, and your fondness for erotica. Though that still doesn't explain what we're going to do with him."

"Gotta admit Captain, he has a point. Those books are some good shit, though." Suigetsu grins at Kakashi. "Could use more swords, but can't have everything. Whatever Itachi, do you want Mr. Caveman to blow your brains out with prehistoric weapons?"

"Suigetsu, just be quiet. This is serious." Naruto shakes his head as he watches the whole seen unfold. What if the guy just hit his kill switch or something? What if he tried to take them out before he did it wasn't like he'd have anything to lose at this point...

Kakashi's gaze fixes on the weapon in Shi's hand for a moment, then everything clicks into place. "That's an energy saber, it's meant for close quarters fighting. It's also good for everything from cutting through solid metal doors to cutting through muscle and bone like water."

"Which means that you're either confident that you can take a hit or dodge six energy blasts quickly enough to get at one of us before whittling us down one by one." Sakura picks up the train of thought and takes a strategic step back. She wasn't likely to get a shot off at him, but if she could catch him when he moved…

"Sakura…" Sasuke growls irritably under his breath. At this rate, his teammates were going to do something stupid and get themselves killed. He curses under his breath and hisses low enough that even with implants, only his brother would be able to hear him. "Itachi, could you…talk to him or something? The longer we take, the higher the chance he'll hit that switch." And clearly, he was too valuable to lose now.

"If you want to die over nothing to protect a world that no longer exists, you have the kill switch. Use it." Itachi's voice was barely recognizable to his own ears. "Doing so won't be noble. It won't protect anyone you care about or preserve any secrets. Transmitting the data you have won't yield the results you want because I'm sorry to inform you of this, but Inari was leveled and even if it wasn't over three hundred years have passed." It was becoming more of a hiss than anything else. "You can do that or you can prove that your survival wasn't just the most extraordinary streak of dumb luck I've ever encountered. If for no other reason, you are living history. The modifications you have on your body might lead to medical breakthroughs. The decision is yours, but if you want to fight you will lose. So make your decision. Choose."

Shisui's eyes widen as he looks around for contradiction. It couldn't be, Inari couldn't… But there was none. No lies, no contradiction. No one was surprised by Itachi's words, as if…as if they were nothing but the truth. And they said that Inari was… But there were so many people, Inari was home to millions of people. They couldn't all be…

But if three hundred years had passed, then they were all dead anyway. Everyone he knew, everyone he's ever loved. If his information no longer mattered…then he no longer mattered either. What was the point if everything that he fought for was gone?

His visual implants flicker to life before his eyes, bringing forth updated information from the nearest servers. Information that he didn't want to see.

**Date: May 3rd, 3620. Location: Saruta, Capital of Konoha.**

He had failed.

Sasuke's brows furrow as the energy saber's faint glow dims and his frown deepens when Shi removes the long metal tube from the holster on his back. For a moment, all is still. Then Shi sheathes the blade and sinks onto his knees, kneeling as he places it on the floor in front of him. One by one, he removes his weapons, both seen and hidden, and places them carefully, meticulously in rows on the floor. It was disturbing to see how many weapons one man could hide on his body without them having a clue. Blades of all sizes and three small antique energy guns.

What proves more disturbing is the blank look in Shi's eyes as he slides back, away from his weapons and places his hands on his knees. His eyelids slide shut and he bows his head. "I submit."

Itachi sighs as he crosses the room, feeling far more guilt than was rational considering Shi had been about to attack him. "I had wanted to break the news more gently than that, but you said you didn't wish to know the year and then all this happened. I'm sorry for your loss and as much as a bastard as you are for using my empathy against me, it wasn't your fault." Itachi leans down enough to take the other man's hand into his own, yanking him up.

"We are not your enemy. Your general was General Madara Uchiha. I know that never told you my last name...but it's Uchiha. Madara was mine and Sasuke's ancestor." Itachi didn't feel inclined to do the math and list how many greats. Just having some sort of connection to his past would likely provide an anchor...however flimsy it may be. "Though I feel reasonably confident in saying that he wouldn't want to see you on your knees. He'd slap you until you got up on your own. Follow me. You're getting grief counseling immediately."

A humourless laugh passes Shisui's lips. "You're right, he would. And he'd do it with that infuriating, arrogant, self-righteous glare on his face." It was…so easy to lose himself in those memories, especially knowing now that they were all he had left. "…It's good to know that the family still exists…that it survived the…destruction of Inari." Destruction of Inari…it felt so wrong on his tongue. Thick and dripping like poison. Bitter humor, an Uchiha specialty. Maybe he should have used the kill switch after all.

"Our family is rather famous for it's death glares." Itachi nods, trying not to sigh at the laugh. It was so lifeless. Shi was a man who had lost everything. "I don't know how or why you got into that pod, but after beating you bloody for being a damn moron, I'm certain he would have been happy you survived. You still have the capacity to do a great deal of good."

Shisui nods sedately, his emotions too wrung out for anything else. Everything felt numb inside. Everything except for the dull, pounding ache of his heart.

"Itachi…" Kakashi hated to interrupt the tender moment, but as Naruto and Sakura were busy collecting up the weapons, it was his job to get to the bottom of this. Though he was fairly certain that he already knew half of the answer to his question. "I just need to ask him one thing before you find a secure place for him to mend."

"Alright. Go ahead and ask it." The sooner Shi got to counseling the better his chances of retraining his sanity. "I was rather...blunt in the manner I briefed him and he has a lot to process."

Kakashi nods and turns to their guest to find dark eyes gazing blankly at him. "Will you state your name, position, and connection to the general?"

Shisui hesitates a moment, then nods. "My name is Shisui Uchiha, a Black Ops agent and the Captain of Team Three of the Infiltration and Intelligence Unit. General Madara Uchiha was my division commander…he was my great-uncle and my legal guardian as of the the time I was thirteen."

"We're family?" Itachi blinks. Distant, but still related. "I suppose that does explain your exceptional eyelashes and bone structure. I hope that's the last of the surprises. At this rate, I have expect you to find a dragon and name it Fluffy."

But the joke does nothing to lift Shisui's spirits. He grows quiet once more and casts his gaze down so as not to meet another's eyes. They would be filled with pity, he was sure. He was already broken enough without their pity.

Kakashi sighs and steps away from the two of them. "I'll inform the higher ups. Maybe it would be best to find him better quarters than the medical lab." After all, it didn't look like the captain was in a hurry to go anywhere. Anywhere at all.

Itachi idly wonders if he needed a mental evaluation, but the broken look was something he couldn't stand. He'd have to take excessive measures to get a reaction out of Shi...well, Shisui. "New quarters sound like a fine idea. Do we have a dungeon? Shisui has told me of his great love for bondage. He'd probably enjoy a dungeon."

"I'm sure that we could figure something out of you want to get cozy with our new arrival." Kakashi's words are light, but as he observes Shisui, there's little in the way of a reaction at all. If there were words beyond devastated and desolate, then Kakashi thought they would be most fit to describe the man before them now. "Though I would suggest a dungeon with a window." Some sun might do good in bringing some colour back into those ghostly pale cheeks.

"Yes, a window would be nice." Itachi glances at Shisui, no reaction at all. He'd have to try harder. "Well, I suppose that you're asexual, after all."

When that fails to produce any reaction either, Kakashi shakes his head and places a hand on Itachi's shoulder. "Maybe you should just try to get him settled in for now. He might be more responsive after some rest."

"Alright. You should brief the counselor, though." He leads Shisui off, it wouldn't be difficult to find him a room.

"Right, I'll do that." Kakashi watches with a wary eye as Itachi leads the officer off by the hand, guiding him like a small, lost child. Which, Kakashi supposed, was likely an accurate description of Shisui's emotional state as he descended into an understandable state of shock. A small, lost child, sad and frightened, but without a voice to articulate any of it.

* * *

The walls run twelve feet by fifteen feet, painted a shade of pale blue. A window with translucent green curtains faces the north to let the light enter slowly in the mornings, doused in a light lemon and honey scent. It reminds Shisui vaguely of the room he had back then, the one he used between missions. Simple but cozy, functional but with room to decorate. Unfamiliar…

"I'll admit it's a bit on the small side, but I imagine you'll find it more comfortable than the medical lab." Itachi glances at Shisui, uncertain of what else to say on the matter. What could he say? The man had just found out that everyone he had ever cared about was dead.

"…It's fine." Shisui's voice, though quiet and soft, betrays none of his exhaustion. Part of him wanted the rest of the world to disappear, the rest…just didn't care. Nothing would change. Nothing could be changed.

"Don't try anything idiotic again." Itachi crosses his arms, narrowing his eyes. The word fine was always an early warning sign in his mind. "You'll be watched even more closely now. You've got a second chance. Don't waste it."

Shisui turns his dark gaze blankly onto Itachi. It should hurt, shouldn't it? He should be crying, weeping, screaming. But there's nothing. All is numb, all is silent. Where his thoughts and feelings should be, there is only a void. Somewhere inside of him, Shisui knows what that means, a part of him knows that it would end in disaster. He just can't find it in himself to care.

The only thing more irritating than being deceived was being given the silent treatment, Itachi sighs to himself. He crosses the room and presses a button on the wall to open the automated closet. From it, he withdraws a pair of soft cotton pajama pants and a thin short-sleeved shirt, then he turns to present them to Shisui. "Put these on. It's nearly four in the morning and everyone needs to sleep." That included Shisui.

The pile of clothes in Itachi's arms draws Shisui's attention and he takes the pile obediently, then places it on the bedside table. He first removes his armored gloves and sets them on the end table next to the clothes, his body armor is quick to follow, along with his tight black shirt.

Lean muscles flex under pale skin as Shisui pulls the shirt over his head and ruffles his wild curls. But down his back, from cervical to lumbar vertebrae, tiny protrusions dot the length of his spine just under the surface of his skin.

It shouldn't have surprised Itachi. Shisui had mentioned being a lab rat, but seeing the physical evidence, as mild as it was, centuries after the fact was disturbing. "Dare I ask what those are from?" His gaze lingers over the protrusions. It was a gamble asking about them and Itachi knew it, but it might put an end to the irritating silent treatment. Itachi would rather have to dodge a punch than deal with that.

Shisui blinks, then casts his gaze over his shoulder, following Itachi's to where it lingered on his back. "They're part of my electromagnetic implants. They connect to my central nervous system to send the right signals to the implants in my hands to allow electromagnetic discharge. They're only prototypes. They're meant to be smaller."

"Did you get them willingly or under orders?" Prototypes explained the situation well enough, but the marks still leave a sour taste in Itachi's mouth. Then again, someone had to be the guinea pig when new technologies were invented. It just happened that Shisui had been one of the first testers.

Something small stirs inside Shisui and he reaches for the shirt to pull it on. "I volunteered for every procedure that was done to me. These weren't meant for use outside of the Black Ops. And my constitution was always stronger than the others." Though the words are somewhat robotic, every one of them is true. "…They were also designed specifically for me."

"That was rather brave of you, but you're fortunate that was the case." Itachi frowns. Had it not been the case, he was reasonably certain the modifications wouldn't have lasted as well as they did. "Certainly whoever designed them was on the cutting edge of their era."

"Yes, they were." And now they were all gone. Shisui loosens his pants and allows them to fall to the floor, then reaches for the pajama pants and carefully pulls them on. "You see them as ancient technology."

"I can't lie and pretend I do not. You likely would feel the same were our positions reversed." He watches Shisui. The other man certainly wasn't bashful, but perhaps he was really just that numb.

Shisui gathers up his clothes and folds them carefully, then places them next to his carefully arranged armor. "Yes, I imagine so." Out of place. Out of time. Ancient technology that didn't belong. "Thank you for your kindness tonight."

"You're welcome." Itachi wanted to correct him. He had been kind in the beginning, but cruel in the end. Shisui had done likewise. "In the end, things will work out as they were meant to." Still, there was no point in arguing about such matters. Shisui had a tremendous amount of healing to do and something as simple as a thank you was likely rather significant. "Tell me what it was like before..."

"…" What it was like before… "In the sunshine, the glass would shine like stars, silver steel and emerald leaves coexisted seamlessly, and there was always a warm breeze carrying the scent of fresh bread, curry, fish, and pastries from the markets. A river ran from the southeast to the northwest and fell over the cliffs in a crystal cascade. Summer would draw everyone to the water." It was beautiful and it was paradise. "We watched from above and protected from the shadows. We protected their hopes and dreams." And now…everything was gone.

That was nothing like Itachi had ever imagined. "It sounds like it was truly beautiful." No wonder the other man mourned the loss of his world so deeply. "There is still beauty in this era, though."

Maybe there was, but Shisui had no place in it. He was a relic of the past…and he should have stayed there. He brushes a hand against the soft pillows laying against the headboard, then sits slowly, sinking into the soft blankets. Everything inside grows still, cold, numb once more… "Then protect it, and don't fail like I did."

"Shisui, you didn't fail. You're still a bastard for tricking me, but there was no way for you to prevent what happened." Itachi rolls his eyes. "Madara would roll in his grave if he knew you thought otherwise."

Not once does Shisui flinch at the mention of his uncle's name. He merely closes up and slides into the bed, pulling the covers up to rest just under his arm. He turns over to face the window and gazes silently at the waning moons.

"I suppose that I am better with body modifications than psychology, after all." Itachi sighs, glancing at Shisui. Never before had words felt so meaningless. "I'll leave you to get settled in then."

Shisui listens silently as Itachi's footsteps turn and cross the room, then as the door slides open and his guide steps out. The moment that the door slides shut again and locks, he closes his eyes. For he was alone, and only now would he be able to hear anything in the silence.


	4. Chapter 4

Stolen Time

**celestia193's Author's Note:** We are back with more Shisui and Itachi! Oh, and more plot, we've got that too. :D

Chapter 4

Navy blue heels click quietly across the floor as a slender woman with dark hair opens the door to the technological studies laboratory's viewing gallery. This wasn't the usual choice of meeting place that she would be called to, but Lord Namikaze had insisted on multitasking as she gave her report. She could surmise why. The modifications engineers had a lot of new data to work with now, data provided by her eerily quiet patient.

Shizune closes the door behind herself and strides smoothly across the room, glancing only once through the window and down towards the laboratory floor. "Sir, at Lady Tsunade's behest, I've brought my report on my latest patient."

"Thank you, Shizune. You're a model of professionalism as always." Minato offers her a soft smile. The women looked positively spooked. "I'll read the report in full of course, but what are your immediate impressions?"

The psychologist sighs and holds the tablet containing the report firmly in her hands. "Understandably, he's in shock. He's been largely non-responsive for the last two weeks. There's a large degree of apathy for the situation he's found himself in. He's very aware of what's going on around him, but he doesn't initiate contact with others, only responds, and even then it's sporadic." Shizune sighs. "He's grieving, hard, but he's either not letting himself consciously grieve, or there's something mentally stopping him from processing the sadness he's feeling and expressing it."

"I can't say that I have anywhere near the training you have, but a probable defense-mechanism would be my guess." Minato frowns. He could scarcely imagine what Shisui was going through. The sheer horror. "He must be terrified all that grief will crash down on him at once."

"Yes, and it may be that he's subconsciously suppressing it for that reason." It wouldn't surprise her, considering what Kakashi had told her. "He's former Black Ops from a period of intense warfare, he's likely seen things that could lead to severe mental trauma if left to run unchecked. And because he has no anchor, there's nothing to stop him from being swept away by it. Or, if he does, he wasn't willing to share it with me." He'd told her about as much as she could expect from an intelligence agent. Which was…practically nothing. "He's good at keeping secrets, but if he refuses interaction, he's not going to find the anchor he needs. I've tried suggesting reading, exercise, writing, art, anything therapeutic, even a walk around headquarters to try and rouse him from this almost catatonic state he's in."

"Has he responded to any of these suggestions?" He finds himself frowning. Shisui was on a metaphorical short fuse. This wouldn't end well if the man didn't have at least something important to him to focus his sanity on.

"No, he didn't." Shizune had tried a number more therapeutic suggestions, but none of them had taken. "But I saw the marks from some of his…modifications. They looked surgically implanted. I asked him if he might want them removed so that he could live a normal life. It was the most reaction I'd gotten out of him, but he asked me what sorts of projects our engineers were working on. I didn't tell him about the most classified projects, of course, but he seemed interested in the ones about cellular regeneration, visual processing, and remote systems control."

"Well, perhaps we can involve him in some capacity with one or more of those projects." It was something at least. Any reaction out of Shisui was nothing short of a miracle. "It's what he knows. It'll give him a purpose..."

Shizune shifts uncomfortably. "Sir, are you proposing that he be given an active position?" Participation in those projects was normally restricted to military technicians and the soldiers that they would be testing the modifications on.

"Just let him observe and offer suggestions. It's a bit premature to give him an official post." Minato shakes his head quickly.

"Of course, Sir." Shizune breathes a sigh of relief and turns to watch the technicians at work. "Then I'll be sure to make the suggestion during our next-" Her eyes widen as the door to the lab opens and the last face she expected to see here walks out onto the floor below. "What does he think he's doing!? How did he even get in there!?"

Minato stares, knowing he was gaping. Indeed. What was he doing? "I don't know, but I intend to find out." He swiftly exits the viewing gallery to reach the stairs leading down to the lab.

"Sir!?" Shizune's eyes widen in panic and she scurries after him, unsure if she should be worried for her patient, whose psyche was currently very fragile, or Minato, who was walking into a potentially volatile situation.

* * *

Purpose. There was purpose in Shisui's every step as he easily coaxes the lock to the lab door open with a single electromagnetic pulse from his palm. He'd done the same thing to other doors more times than he cared to remember. But finally, there was something he could do, something that he could focus on. A single shining light. Itachi had been kind and Shisui had deceived him, then shut him out.

And Itachi was right, his uncle would have boxed his ears for the way he'd behaved. Shisui was no stranger to tragedy and he would not succumb to it now.

He steps into the lab and closes the door behind him. This was a familiar setting, one in which Shisui knew exactly what his purpose was. In this sort of place, it was always the same. His eyes seek out that familiar face, those elegant brows furrowed slightly as the man hunches over a display, no doubt examining a technical problem with a design. His eyes glow red for a moment, just long enough to analyze the properties of the design.

Regeneration. Perfect.

Shisui strides silently to Itachi's half moon of consoles and stops directly in front of the man he'd spurned two weeks ago. "…Itachi?"

"Shisui?" Itachi turns his attention away from his latest attempt at a regeneration modification in favor of watching the...well, he didn't even know what to call Shisui anymore really. "What are you doing here? How did you even find the lab?" His voice was so hesitant that it seemed unlikely he was about to attack or run off...so, what could he want?

"I tracked your chemical signature from the living quarters all the way here." It was just one of the many tools in Shisui's visual arsenal. "I'm here to offer you my body."

"You...can do that?" Itachi tilts his head, a bit disturbed by the knowledge. Though, it was impressive. Just how advanced had the technology really been in Shisui's day? As he was lost in thought, he almost didn't hear Shisui's offer, but when he does...Itachi nearly falls out of his chair. "W-What?" He couldn't have heard that correctly.

Shisui represses a smirk and tactically backs off a little. "I'm sorry, I just thought…since you wanted to put me in a dungeon…"

"Maybe things were far more different in your era than I ever thought possible." Itachi slowly gets off the floor and tries to collect his pride that was now in tatters. "You scarcely say two words to me for two weeks and now you're trying to seduce me?"

Once more, Shisui represses a smirk, though he's not entirely successful. "You made it difficult to resist with the way you looked so serious hunched over the way you were." Slowly, Shisui schools his features into something light, but far more serious. "But no, I'm not here to seduce you." He touches the glass screen and spins the image of the regenerative implant. "I meant that I'm here to offer my body for study. I am aware that you're working on some difficult projects that you haven't been able to find key components for."

He was tempted to ask who he was and what had this imposter done with Shisui, but Itachi wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. "That's very...thoughtful of you. I would have to get authorization for this first, of course."

Shisui sighs and raises a hand to his mouth. Then he bites into the heel of his palm just enough to draw blood, then presents the injury to Itachi as the skin slowly begins to knit itself back together. "Are you less hesitant now?"

"That's...not possible." Itachi could only stare in wonder. For centuries and likely even longer, they had tried so hard to come up with a functional regeneration modification. It had never worked. "How? When?" Yet here Shisui was, someone from the distant past who clearly had received a modification doing precisely that.

"Half of my implants are secrets known only to the Black Ops and were sealed in secret files. I was the first field trial for most of their experiments. Last I remember, they still hadn't been installed yet in any of the other agents." But Shisui did remember the day that the implant was placed into his head. "I have all of the design data stored on one of the storage chips in my shoulder, the active chemical data should be easy to retrieve through observation."

"Incredible. I truly think based on that it should be relatively simple to replicate the technology." Itachi stands up and closes the gap between them, yanking off Shisui's shirt in one pull, ripping it. He discards the torn fabric to the ground and immediately begins examining Shisui's shoulder.

A soft flare of amusement ignites in Shisui's otherwise blank eyes as the technician obsesses over the tattooed shoulder. "You could have just asked me to take my shirt off. Or you could have asked me to upload the data to your personal servers."

"It's the opportunity of a lifetime. Besides, you had a good laugh at my expense. I saw no reason not to do the same." He shrugs, Itachi didn't feel the need to apologize. "Though do upload the data if you're able. It looks like everything is fully...functional at first blush."

Shisui huffs softly and reaches a hand towards Itachi's console, but pauses as the door to the lab opens and expels a tall, blond-haired man. Shisui recognizes his counselor following behind him. His brow knits in confusion. Were they upset about the door? He didn't break it that badly.

Someone up there clearly despised him, Itachi sighs at the thought. Lovely. Now he had to explain what Shisui was doing there and most likely why Shisui was shirtless. "Lord Minato, Miss Shizune?"

Dark eyes flash red for a moment as Shisui's eyes give him a flood of new data. And that long, open white jacket with the flames licking at the seams was a dead giveaway. At the time, it had only been a concept floated by General Senju, but now…clearly it had been put into practice.

Instantly, Shisui turns and sinks to one knee, his gaze cast down. "Lord Hokage." He would know the mark of the military leader of the nation anywhere. Even if the civilians preferred to be ruled by a council, the attire of the Hokage was unmistakable.

"Shisui, I must say that I have been rather eager to meet you." Minato watches him with concerned eyes, but there was a certain degree of puzzlement in those azure irises as well. Likely over his missing shirt. "Though I'm surprised to find you here of all places."

"I believed that I would be of more use here than…elsewhere." Shisui had little to offer them in any other capacity because of obvious security risks. But even so, he could only listen to the painfully dead silence for so long. "I possess information that I believe will be of use to your engineers, so I've come to volunteer myself for study."

"Well, I was going to ask you to do something similar and observe if you like." Minato rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "So, that does work out perfectly. I am confused as to your half dressed state, though."

Shisui's lips twitch and he raises his head. "One of your people was rather eager to undress me and seems to have skipped the step of undressing me with his eyes first."

"He possesses a functional regeneration modification. It was only natural I would react enthusiastically." Itachi huffs, Shisui would pay for this later.

"What? But that's impossible." Shizune peers uncertainly around Minato's shoulder. "Lady Tsunade may have hypothesized that it was possible to stimulate regeneration in soldiers, but the principles have never been successfully put into practice."

"Apparently, they were put into practice successfully at least once." Itachi wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.

Shisui contains a sigh and rises to his feet, then presses a hand to Itachi's primary console. His fingertips glow blue with the transfer of energy carrying the data from the storage chips in his shoulder. "Should I assume that you have medical examination pods on standby built for scanning implant recipients?"

"Yes, of course. Follow me." Minato glances at Shisui as he starts towards the pods. "You are going to be responsible for saving so many lives."

"…Maybe." And maybe it would start to make up for all of the lives he couldn't save. At the very least, the secrets that Shisui's body carried might be of some use to these people he didn't know, to these people who carried the future of a people that Shisui barely belonged to anymore. Maybe they could find some use for his body, even if the rest of him was disposable.

* * *

A medical pod lays floating in the middle of the technology laboratory, the contents more valuable than gold to the technicians and engineers working excitedly on some of the most difficult projects they'd ever been assigned. Bits and pieces of the mystery were coming together and avenues never before explored were opening up. All of their best and brightest were here to marvel at the medical and technological miracle.

Even an irritable lazybones could be dragged away from his cloud-gazing to raise an eyebrow at the number of places lit up on this guy's body. Every implant glows green on their scans, and there wasn't a single limb that didn't have at least three modifications implanted in it. "These must have taken years of development and testing, not to mention the hours of surgery to get them in there."

Shikamaru didn't envy the agent the trauma of adjusting to such bulky implants. Using nanites instead of surgery was safer and faster, but despite all of the unexpected advances that were clearly lost to them at some point, it seemed that nanite-powered implant surgery was not something that had been done in the early days of implant modification. "You said that he volunteered for these procedures?"

"Yes, he's quite insistent that he did. I don't know if that makes him very brave or masochistic." Itachi shrugs. He didn't understand anything about Shisui really. He was beginning to grow used to it.

"I haven't talked with him, so I wouldn't know." But Shikamaru would admit that this level of technology in a person was well beyond the limits they'd established for their own guinea pigs. "In just his head, he has a visual implant in each eye, replacing the natural lenses with synthetic versions equipped with cameras capable of photography and recording, as well as a set of data processing implants connected to four parts of his brain. He has temporal implants to improve his hearing, as well as an olfactory implant designed to scent out chemicals and give him a visual reading of someone's body chemistry. And then there's three unidentified implants in his brain, plus the kill switch in his brain stem." Though there was something about Shisui's right eye that bothered Shikamaru, he would hold his peace until he could confirm his suspicions.

"I can't even begin to articulate how many ethics and laws whoever did this broke and that is including by the standards of THEIR day." Itachi frowns. It was disturbing. That many modifications on one person and they weren't even modern. The pain he must have endured had to be immense.

"I guess this is what it meant to be in the Black Ops." Shikamaru understood well enough that the covert agents undertook extreme measures to carry out their missions, but even this was extreme. Unless one factored in the era of open warfare. "We've got to deal with the kill switch first. He's not on missions now that risk the leaking of information, so there's no reason for him to need one anymore." Shikamaru glances down at his tablet and frowns. "I can get most of the encrypted files open if I have some time, but there's a few that are protected by voice-activated passwords, including the file for the kill switch."

"Well, what are you suggesting we do then?" Anyone who knew those passwords was long since dead, as much as Itachi wished they weren't just so he could wring their necks. "Their questionable ethics aside, he's here now and as you said, he doesn't need it."

"I'm suggesting that we have him deactivate the kill switch so that we can have the nanites go in and destroy it without risking setting it off. If he can't, then we need to figure out what Project Nightingale is." It was the same thing over and over. Every time that Shikamaru tried to get into the protected files, it always redirected to Nightingale.

"Alright. I'll see if I can get him to deactivate it. If we can't we'll look into Project Nightingale." Itachi had little hope of finding anything out about the project, but they had to try in the worst case scenario.

Shikamaru glances towards the open top of the medical pod, the white, cushioned bed with its glass half-walls and protective metal rings extended over their patient's lightly sedated form. "He should be conscious enough to answer you." Shikamaru brings up the program on the tablet, then shoots the files to Itachi's. "Hook that up to the implant and then have him speak whatever codes he needs to in order to deactivate it."

"Very well then." Itachi quickly sets about the task of preparing the implant before making his way to Shisui. He taps the glass of the pod gently, hoping to wake the drowsy man within. "Shisui… We want to deactivate the kill switch inside of you. You no longer need it, but we need the codes to deactivate it."

Slowly, Shisui's eyelids flutter open and he glances just to his right and up into Itachi's eyes. For a moment, he says nothing, the words taking their time to reach him. "You want to deactivate my kill switch?" He frowns slightly. It was a last resort measure to ensure that he couldn't accidentally leak intel to the enemy if captured. "You're not worried that I'll be captured and tortured for information?"

"No, we're not. They wouldn't have the slightest idea who you were. No offense. They have no reason to suspect that you're alive." Itachi watches him, hoping to reason with Shisui. That kill switch had to be deactivated. "The war in our time hardly qualifies as one. Some are looking to expand their territory and people do get hurt or even killed, but never on the scale you endured."

For a moment, Shisui is silent. He weighs Itachi's words against his own experience, then sighs and bows to the request. "Very well." He takes a deep breath and reaches up for the tablet. He presses his hand to the screen and closes his eyes. "Open confidential Flashfire files."

A faint whirring emanates from the tablet and a quiet female voice exits the sound box. "Welcome Agent Uchiha. What are your orders, Captain?"

Shisui couldn't believe he was finally doing this. "Authorize deactivation of Protocol Nakano. Code 392-5637-27354-723." They were numbers he knew by heart, but was never supposed to use. "Disable kill chip functionality and place into retirement mode."

The voice in the tablet whirs again. "Permission granted, placing Protocol Nakano into retirement. Thank you for your service, Captain."

Shisui breathes out softly as his eyes glow red. A slight buzzing erupts in the back of his head. Not debilitating, but not pleasant. But he gives little indication of his discomfort until the implant settles down and goes permanently to sleep. He closes his eyes and rests a hand on his chest. "It's done."

"You look rather depressed for someone who deactivated their own kill switch." Itachi eyes Shisui a bit warily. Earlier playfulness aside, Shisui was still recovering from a horrific shock. There was really no telling what was going on inside his mind right now. "Thank you, though. It's a tremendous relief to know that thing isn't still active." It may have been necessary in his day, but in their era...at least to Itachi, the very idea was repulsive. Of course, logically he knew that it had been designed to protect their people and as a 'mercy' to any captured agent. Better that than being tortured for information. It was still a sickening thought. He couldn't imagine having to press that button himself, or to entertain thoughts on every operation that might include when and where to activate it.

Dark eyelashes flutter as Shisui's eyes open again. "Are you planning on removing it?" He'd spent so many years with ready access to that oblivion that being without it was…a concept that was difficult for him to grasp. Logically, it was easy, but the world didn't always run on logic.

"Since it's been deactivated, there's not much of a practical point in keeping it there." This was such a bizarre situation, Itachi muses. "However, I'm not going to force you to endure another procedure if you don't want it." He was upset about not having an active kill switch on some level.

"…I don't mind procedures." As strange as that might sound to this scientist, Shisui was telling the truth. He'd been through enough of them to know the drill. "They don't hurt me as much as you seem to think." Of course, he'd been told that his tolerance for pain was inhuman, and that had contributed to his participation in the field trials.

"Shisui, it's your body and thus your choice. If you find some comfort in keeping the device in, I'm not going to push the issue." Itachi couldn't wrap his mind around why that was the case precisely, but all of Shisui's behavior indicated it was. "Just because something doesn't cause you extreme agony, doesn't mean you have to do it."

Shisui knew that. Shisui knew and even understood why Itachi wanted the implant gone. But…could Shisui really sever yet another string tying him to his own life? …Though he supposed that it didn't really matter anyway, he was already effectively dead. "…Take it out. There's no point in having a dead implant in my brain anyway."

"Alright. I'll set up the procedure for the earliest possible date then." Itachi bites back a sign. It seemed the playful side was a temporary 'up.' Shisui was back to being cooperatively apathetic.

The former captain merely nods and closes his eyes. His spirit felt flighty and drifting, without anchor or rope to keep him from being swept away. His life had been nothing but war and covert operations, blood and death and as much intelligence as he could gather. He was a sharp-eyed watcher of the world. But beyond that… "Are you happy with the data you're collecting?"

"Depends on which data. The data you're giving us access to is beyond anything we ever could have hoped for." Itachi couldn't bite back the sigh this time. Shisui on the other hand was…well, he had a long road ahead of him. "I know it's an impossible task to ask of you, but try to work with Shizune. She wants to help you adjust."

Adjust…to what? Shisui's only purpose now was to serve as a knowledge bank for these inheritors of his predecessors' work. Whatever information they needed, he would provide. And when they no longer had a use for him and he had carried out this one last mission…maybe he could find a familiar light at the end of this pitch black tunnel. "…Understood."

"Shisui, I may have been foolish enough to fall for your docile routine, but I am not an idiot." Itachi crosses his arms, his eyes narrowing. "I won't do it a second time. So please don't say that you're going to work with Shizune if you don't really have any intention of letting her help you. Just sitting there and nodding your head will likely do little to help you."

A soft sigh passes Shisui's lips as he turns his head to cast a despondent gaze upon Itachi. "I'm not in this to help myself. All I can do is try to make myself useful in a place I don't belong, trapped in a world that isn't mine. I can't go home and I have no life here because I was never meant to be here at all."

"If you weren't meant to be here, you wouldn't have lived through your ordeal. The fact you survived far longer in stasis than any pod in your era should have allowed means you were meant to be here." Itachi keeps his gaze fixed on the other man, wondering just how far gone Shisui truly was. "I can't say that I have even the slightest idea of how much pain you're enduring, but I know that much for a fact. You are here for a reason and if you want to become a husk, you may, but it would be an exercise in supreme stupidity."

"I don't know why anyone bothered to preserve me, but…" Shisui raises a hand and the lights within the pod grow a little brighter. "This is my reason now. If my existence means that you will get information that you need, then I will live for that. Beyond that, it's hard to see if there's a path ahead or if it just drops off in the middle of the mist."

Itachi frowns. It was likely the best response he was he was going to get for now. "Well, it's a start. Perhaps you'd like a tour of the facility?"

"Maybe another day." Shisui's gaze turns up towards the viewing gallery, where the Hokage could yet be seen watching them. "I'm sure that he'll want to see to a few things before I'm allowed to walk around freely, especially after I short-circuited the lock on the bedroom door, then the one to the lab."

"You...never make things easy for yourself, do you?" He couldn't stifle the groan those words elicited. "You short circuited two locks...really?"

For the first time since arriving, a genuine, though wry smile curves Shisui's lips. "Infiltration and Intelligence Unit, remember? I also excel in sabotage." And assassination.

"You also excel in being a pain in my ass." Itachi smacks his forehead. "Well, I suppose it's good to see that all your practical knowledge for sneaking around is intact. I'll have to remember that."

"Yes, after all, I could have escaped when you had me cornered that night." Shisui had gotten himself out of far worse situations than that. "Even surrounded by all eight of you."

"You are absolutely insufferable." He rolls his eyes at the boast. "That may very well be your normal state of being, though. So perhaps this too counts as progress of sorts."

The word 'insufferable' very nearly makes Shisui laugh. Nearly… "I've been called that before." In a brighter time, one when he could see through the storming clouds of war to happier days.

"I can't imagine why." Itachi was certain his sarcasm was sharp enough to cut through even the strongest of shields now. He was behaving like a brat, but Shisui insisted on bringing it out in him.

Shisui huffs softly and lowers his hand back to the bed with just the slightest twinkle in his eye. "Maybe one day I'll tell you why."

"Probably because you have this annoying habit of trying to run away from those who help you and insist on trying to make things harder on yourself than they have to be." He glances at the other man. It was emotional whiplash really. Ping ponging between annoyance, concern, and the occasional flicker of amusement.

Shisui carefully resists being swept away by the gentle wave of nostalgia evoked by Itachi's words. "You really do sound like him."

"Sound like who?" Itachi quirks an eyebrow.

"My great-uncle." And even after so much time, though none at all to Shisui, the family resemblance was still evident in Itachi's face. "Madara Uchiha."


	5. Chapter 5

Stolen Time

**celestia193's Author's Note:** We return with angst! And a little bit of healing. And more angst! But plot. Oh yes, we have PLOT! Enjoy the not so subtle plot.

Chapter 5

His standard jacket cast aside in the warming summer air, Sasuke walks across the roof with a bag of food in hand. It wasn't unusual for Itachi to forget to eat, but with everything that was going on, this was starting to get a little out of hand. Itachi wasn't going to be any use to anyone if he kept forgetting to eat.

He sighs the second he catches sight of his older brother just sitting there and staring off into space. The rooftop terrace was their special place, one that no one else usually bothered to visit. It was a safe place for them to eat and talk without risking being overheard by nosy colleagues.

"You're brooding again." Sasuke crouches down beside him and plops the bag of lunch down on top of Itachi's head. Brooding was something that Naruto often called him out on doing. So Sasuke supposed that meant it was just one more thing that he and his brother had in common. "And you forgot your lunch."

"I suppose one could say that." Itachi turns to face Sasuke. No matter what was going on, ignoring his little brother was not something he ever intended on doing. "It's a good thing that I have you to look after me. Honestly, sometimes you're more of a mother hen than our actual mother, Sasuke. I'll be fine." He smiles, poking his brother's forehead affectionately and taking the food. If he pretended to be fine long enough, Sasuke might actually believe him.

"You will be." Sasuke sits down beside him and stretches out with his own lunch. "But that doesn't mean that you're fine right now." He reaches inside for a substantial chicken sandwich loaded with everything that their dear sweet mother could fit into it. "So what's going on?"

Itachi sighs. Sasuke was becoming far too perceptive as of late. "It's Shisui. I see no reason to keep that from you. You're as aware of his presence as anyone."

Of course he was, Sasuke was the one who found him with Naruto. "I heard that he snuck into the lab earlier. All of headquarters knows." Gossip traveled fast, especially when it involved something or someone new. Shisui's existence, while not the most closely guarded secret, was a thing of mystery and interest to many. "Did something happen?"

"He is having difficulty adjusting. It's only to be expected. He blames himself for not stopping what happened on Inari and everyone he ever cared about is dead." Itachi frowns. There was just no reaching him. Other than the occasional ray of levity, Shisui was in a state of profound grief which alternated with periods of apathy.

Sasuke takes a bite of his sandwich and chews slowly. He hadn't really had a chance to spare much thought about it, but Shisui's situation...sucked. He takes a moment to swallow and chews his words carefully. "I guess it's not realistic to expect him to just...be alright after everything that's happened. There's not really anything for him to adjust to, everything is different now."

"He's receiving grief counseling, of course." Itachi didn't think it would be enough by a long shot. "Honestly, he views his only purpose in this life as providing information to our people. There are a few brief intervals when he expresses something other than grief and apathy, but they're fleeting and far between. He did say that I remind him of Madara in one of those moments, though. I suppose that's something."

"Madara?" Sasuke had heard the name before, heard stories, seen a few pictures. Very little remained of when General Madara Uchiha held power, but there was still a little he knew about their proud, strong, cunning, and downright ferocious ancestor. "What did you do that could have reminded him of that man?"

"I suspect it's because I called him insufferable due to the fact he has an annoying habit of running away from those trying to help him. That, and he adores making things more difficult on himself than they have to be." Itachi tilts his head to the side thoughtfully. It could have been anything, though. They knew so little of Madara.

Sasuke could easily imagine the tone that Itachi had delivered those sorts of words in. "So...he compared you to Madara because you decided to be a sarcastic asshole?" Sasuke knew he had that trait in spades, but it wasn't something that he'd originally thought of attributing to their famed ancestor.

"I was not being a sarcastic asshole. I was pointing out the reality of the situation." Itachi shrugs, not feeling ashamed in the slightest. "You would have said worse."

"You're right about that." Sasuke would have said much worse, and then probably run his mouth about it, as Itachi was so fond of prodding him about. "So are you bothered about being compared to Madara?"

"I don't know. I don't really know much about him." None of them did. That era was a blurry chapter in history at best.

"Then maybe we should ask." Sasuke knew very well that Shisui was capable of filling in a lot of the gaps in their records. It wouldn't be perfect, of course, they probably wouldn't get anything from after he was put into stasis, but they could at least get what came before. "If he can fill in the gaps for us, then maybe it would be worth talking to him about it."

"That's true, but it'd also make him focus on what he's lost." Did Itachi really want to plunge him further into grief?

So there was just no winning then. Sasuke bites into his sandwich as he mulls over everything. Shisui was an anomaly, to be sure. He hadn't proved to be a security risk so far, and there was a lot of information inside of him that they could use. The problem was getting to it and not triggering Shisui into doing something stupid. "Is he being watched just in case he tries to set off that switch in his head?"

Itachi sighs, the question an unpleasant one. Though one that did need to be addressed. "He's being watched and the switch will be removed." It was for the best. He didn't like the thought of that switch in general, but it was particularly dangerous given Shisui's situation, even if currently inactive.

That came as a slight surprise. Sasuke hadn't thought that they were going to go that far. "Are you planning on overhauling all of his implants, then? Or are you just going to work on removing them?" He didn't imagine that Itachi of all people was just going to let the implants stay the way they were. At best, they were antiques with a whole host of potential problems in their designs.

"I don't know yet, Sasuke. For the moment, they seem functional enough and I'm reluctant to give him yet another thing to brood over." Asking about the kill switch had been difficult enough, but multiple removals or overhauls was just cruelty at this point. Itachi didn't feel like being cruel to Shisui again.

"Seems like brooding is an Uchiha thing." Sasuke had been reluctant to admit as much, but if he and Itachi and their father all did it, as well as this unknown Uchiha ancestor of theirs...then maybe it truly was a family trait. "So? What are you going to do about it?"

"Sasuke, the reason why I am brooding is precisely because I don't know what I'm going to do about any of this." Itachi sighs, looking at his lunch. It was beautifully and lovingly prepared, but eating was now the last thing on his mind. Not when a million scenarios were unfolding inside his head. Each more problematic than the last.

Sasuke nods and takes another bite. It sounded like Itachi had quite a vexing problem on his hands. Sasuke preferred it when his problems were straightforward, then he could be the one to take the complex and thought out approach. But for a problem to start complicated and only get worse… "He must feel pretty alone here."

Itachi sighs, feeling the futile urge bang his head against the wall in frustration. "I imagine that he does. I'm also certain that he'll do his damnest to resist forming any sort of attachments considering how much he has lost. I hope I'm wrong about that. It'd be good for him to make a friend at the very least."

"Do you think he could handle having Naruto's attention on him?" If Shisui needed a friend, then Sasuke could definitely mention that to Naruto and then just sit back and watch the show. Naruto never left anyone without a friend for long.

"I'm not sure. Though I suppose if nothing else, Naruto would certainly distract him from dwelling on unpleasant topics." Itachi ponders the matter. "It's worth a shot."

"And if that doesn't work?" On the one hand, Sasuke could see Naruto's fun and energetic ways pulling nearly anyone out of their dark and sad places. But on the other hand, Shisui might prefer more intelligent conversation than what Naruto could offer. "Are you going to try yourself?"

"I have with very limited success. Considering how closely I'll likely have to work with him, it would be ideal for a friendship to be fostered." Itachi was viewing it as increasingly unlikely, but his odds were probably no worse than anyone else's in reality. He just had to be realistic about all of this.

"If he hasn't gone off on you and tried to kill you, there's probably still hope." Their family's patterns of rejecting people were typically either extremely cold or extremely violent. They did nothing in half-measure. Sasuke was no exception to that rule, though Naruto had stubbornly refused to be frozen out like everyone else, so Sasuke had grudgingly extended conversation privilege to the others as well. "Maybe somehow you'll thaw him out a bit."

"I suppose that very low bar has been met." Itachi sighs, feeling at a loss for words. "I should get back to work."

Sasuke glances at Itachi's still untouched lunch as he finishes off his own. "Alright, but at least make sure that you eat something. If you don't, I'll tell Mom and let her mother hen you for it."

Itachi shakes his head. "Very well. I'll keep that in mind." He grabs his sandwich before slipping off. That was enough mother henning from his brother for one day.

* * *

It was supposed to be routine work. Normally, Itachi could have finished such tasks in the matter of minutes with his eyes closed. Unfortunately, concentration was eluding him. Try as he may, Sasuke's words kept ringing in his head.

_"Maybe he needs a friend..."_

So fixated on the endless loop playing in his mind was he that Itachi squeezed one delicate piece of machinery just a little too tightly. He winces as it crunched. "Well, it least it's just a standard component." No more valuable than a fancy pen really.

A sharp, yet lazy gaze falls upon the young engineer, an eyebrow raised in slight concern and curiosity. It was unlike the young Uchiha to lose his focus like that, and even more unusual for him to be so forceful with his machines, even by accident. "Something wrong, Itachi?" Shikaku could make a guess, but it saved time to just ask what was bothering someone. Either they would tell the truth, or they would lie, and Shikaku could deduce the truth from that.

"These components are getting cheaper by the day." Itachi shakes his head, sighing. Lying to someone as perceptive as Shikaku was a frutiless endeavor, but the truth was painful. "As for the heart of the matter, though...I have concerns for Shisui's mental health. He's adjusting to a great loss and in an unfamiliar place."

Of course. Shikaku had been tasked with going over what they could discover of Shisui, including his current psychological profile. It didn't look good. And from what little they'd been able to glean from the data chips he carried, there was a lot that the captain had left behind. "Yes, I can see why. It's clearly a miracle he's even still functioning." Especially with all of the antique hardware in his body. "But he's proving himself an Uchiha. Stubborn to the end, even half out of his mind with grief."

Itachi lets out a half concealed, strangled laugh. "Yes, I suppose that is the way of our family no matter how many generations may have passed. Sasuke believes he's in need of a friend. We've considered possibly introducing him to Naruto."

"Naruto, huh?" That was an interesting proposition to solve the problem at hand. Whether the idea was inspired or a recipe for disaster, Shikaku couldn't definitively say without speaking to Shisui himself. "The kid does have a gift for getting people out of their shells. But it might just be the case that he needs some normalcy in his life, to get back to doing some of the things he used to. People are more comfortable in familiar patterns. Work, food, extracurriculars, even just a regular exercise schedule."

"Exercise might be the safest bet." A body like Shisui's could only be achieved with some sort of regular physical activity. "He was a soldier. Training is likely familiar to him."

An amused smirk plays about Shikaku's lips. "Yes, I thought so too when he asked permission to have access to the training gym. I advised Minato that if he made the request, it might be best to allow it. I would guess that he would have stayed alone in his room or in the lab otherwise." Which, as much as the latter was helpful, could not be good for someone's mind day after day.

"I probably should have expected you would be 'ahead of the curve' so to speak." Itachi chuckles and shakes his head. "Well, that's something at least. I think I might check and see if he's in the gym then."

"He's been in there for…" Shikaku flicks to the video logs of the gym on his tablet. "One hour, twenty-six and a half minutes." Give or take five seconds. "I imagine he'll be in there for at least an hour more. He's only tired slightly since first arriving."

"That precision is a little disturbing, but I'll go and observe his progress in person." Itachi stands, glancing at his coworker a little sheepishly. "I'm too easily distracted to be of much use right now anyway."

"Yes, you are." Shikaku nearly rolls his eyes, but resists. "Also, I've been told to assign you directly to Shisui Uchiha's case. Normally, this might be viewed as a conflict of interest, as the two of you are related, but since his case is proving to be a difficult one, the higher ups are willing to bend the rules after seeing the two of you interact. They've also declared his profile to be classified. You won't be able to share the details you learn from here on out with anyone not on his case."

"That's fair. It's too much of a security risk to tell everyone." Itachi nods in understanding, feeling a bit awkward as he starts off. "Thank you, Shikaku."

Shikaku waves off the thanks, knowing that it was more than a little premature. "Don't thank me yet. You're going to have a lot of work to do with him, especially with what's been put inside him. The higher ups don't want him short-circuiting before he's shared the information in his encrypted files."

It was a gut punch, but a well needed reality check. To the higher ups, Shisui was more an asset than a flesh and blood person. "I'll keep that in mind."

A rueful sigh escapes Shikaku. As expressionless as Itachi could keep his face sometimes, he was far from infallible. The anger was obvious when you knew what to look for. "And Itachi, Minato and Tsunade plan to watch your progress with him. He's clearly a talented and damaged young man who's seen things we can barely imagine. Don't forget that there are some who've seen past what his body can offer to the mind inside." There were some who did want the things that Itachi so clearly wanted for his kin.

"I know that and I understand we'll be monitored closely." Expecting otherwise would be foolish, but he did have to at least make the attempt. Shisui had survived against the odds for centuries. He deserved a chance at something resembling normalcy.

"Just as long as you understand." Shikaku's gaze returns to his tablet. "And Itachi, since I've disabled the security in here for a moment, I'll give you a piece of advice. I imagine you'll be among the first to know whatever secrets he's carrying. Whether anyone else finds out about some of those secrets would, of course be up to the discretion of whoever is working on his case."

"Thank you and I'll keep that in mind." It was a delicate situation to say the least.

* * *

Five minutes now. That's how long Shisui knew he was being watched. Not that being watched in the gym was an uncommon occurrence for him. No, his uncle Madara often came to watch him as he trained, and often with company. The Uchiha pride ran strong, and he knew well that his putting his talents on display was a requirement as Madara's nephew and ward.

His feet touch down on a platform twenty feet off the ground before immediately leaving it again as he flips head over heels and clasps his fingers around a hanging ring. He swings around a pillar, then through a pair, releasing the ring and falling back to grab hold of a horizontal bar and sing in a tight circle before falling once more and hitting the ground at a run.

Though the configuration was different to what he'd grown used to, he found the challenge that the unknown presented to be invigorating. In fact, he preferred it when he could dive into the unknown. It would better prepare him for a mission, even if he had no missions left.

After turning sharply around a corner formed by deep depressions in the floor, he runs up the wall up the labyrinth, gaining a height of ten feet before kicking off the surface and soaring fifteen feet into the air. His fingers find a rope and he swings, climbing the knots with an expert precision never lost on him.

Shisui might be struggling internally, but externally, the man's physical prowess was almost ethereal in nature. There was so much grace, speed, and power in the way he commanded the gym. There was not one wasted gesture in his moments. It captivating. Itachi had always known himself to be in good shape, but Shisui had honed the human body to heights he hadn't known actually existed. That, and he'd reorganized the gym rather quickly. The man was...efficient.

Upon scaling the rope, Shisui wraps it carefully around his body, grasping it with a single hand as he twists and turns like an acrobat. Then, he releases his grasps and falls, spinning through the air until he catches the rope behind his left knee, leaving him suspended upside down in his tight, black, high-collared training shirt and loose gray pants. His eyes open slowly, glowing a soft red as his right eye focuses in on the chemical signature that had, until a few minutes ago, been absent from the room. Itachi.

"I see that you've found the gym." Itachi offers a cautious smile. He wasn't entirely sure how Shisui would react to sharing 'his' newest space.

Shisui's expression remains unreadable as he slowly unhooks himself and swings himself onto the closest platform. He crouches for a moment as he gazes down at Itachi. "Yes, it's proven sufficient for my needs." It wasn't quite the Black Ops training room which was twice this size, but it worked well enough. "Did you come here to use the room?" Shisui had another hour and twenty minutes before his routine three hour afternoon training was over.

"Not exactly." This was the awkward part. Itachi wasn't sure how to say it without feeling like a stalker. "I came to see you. I was going to suggest that utilizing this place might be comforting for you, but it seems Shikamaru's father already anticipated such a thing."

"I see." Shisui nods slowly, his gaze fixed on his visitor. "Lord Hokage agreed to allow me access to this place. Likely in the hopes that I would spend less time in my room twiddling my thumbs for lack of anything better to do." He was already on a lab schedule, but it left a great number of hours empty of anything to do, especially without missions.

"It's a fair argument." Itachi's smile grows a little less cautious. Well, at least Shisui was talking. "Are you enjoying it?"

"It keeps me busy." Shisui couldn't honestly say that he was enjoying it, but it was better than sitting on his hands and staring out the window. "It's familiar, it calms me, it's…a relief."

"Well, I imagine that's in improvement." He glances around, his eyes landing on the impressive arrangement Shisui had come up with. "You've certainly come up with quite the elaborate training regime."

Shisui slides gracefully down from the platform, his gaze darkening to a matte onyx. "It is my usual training. Speed, strength, agility." He knew of some agents who preferred weight training, but he found it far too unbalanced. Better to train his whole body to move in every way he could possibly need it to, rather than focus on a single attribute. "I was an agent designed for stealth missions. A critical part of that is the ability to get in and out of target locations using unconventional tactics and hiding places."

"It does seem highly effective." It was probably best not to mention Itachi had already seen those stealth abilities when Shisui had tried to escape.

But the thoughts that flickered through Itachi's eyes were no great mystery to Shisui. His emotions might be numb, but he was no fool. He had been trained to read others when his uncle had discovered that he had a talent for it. "…I apologize for trying to escape and for nearly forcing your hand." Even if he could very well have escaped them, it had been unfair to put them into that position in the first place.

"I can't blame you. If I woke up in an unfamiliar environment, my first instinct would likely be to run as well." Itachi watches him, uncertain what to do. Inwardly, he curses himself for not coming up with a more detailed plan than 'find Shisui.' "You seem to be doing a bit...better now, though?"

Inside Shisui, something cracks a little, just enough that it's nearly a physical sensation. "Not really. I have a purpose and ways to occupy my time, but no motivation or goals." It was hard to exist that way, but he knew that he had to. He hadn't been given leave not to, yet.

"I can't imagine what you're going through now. As far as you're likely concerned, your entire world has been turned to ashes." Itachi sighs, resting a hand on Shisui's shoulder gingerly. "There is silver lining to such a thing, though. You get something that many people can only dream about. The chance to start completely over. You can be whoever you want to be now. You can find new dreams and motivations."

Just erase everything and start over? But what would that leave him with? Shisui's entire life had been spent embroiled in war, in combat. He couldn't imagine what the world was like now that the fighting had largely stopped. "That doesn't erase the feeling of failure. I was entrusted with critical missions that would affect the future of my people. But my home was destroyed while I was asleep and useless." Was it possible for him to ever move past the guilt?

"Shisui, you weren't useless." Itachi sighs, leaning ever closer until their foreheads were almost touching. "If you had been awake, given the carnage that happened, you likely would have perished along with the others. Then all that knowledge you have would have been lost. You help your people far more by being here now than you could have by almost assuredly dying in combat. You didn't fail. You succeeded because you survived and with you so does the memory of everyone you knew in a far more organic way than they would have otherwise."

Maybe so, but Shisui didn't know what good his information really was. Unless… "How much…data is in my storage chips?" By his calculations there should be no more than two hundred and thirty-four gigabytes of information pertaining to his most recent mission and to his accumulated baseline information. Chemistry, biology, geography, physics, engineering data, all of that would be in there in compressed files. And there would be a few confidential files too.

"Somewhere in the in the neighborhood of 1219 terabytes, I believe. There is an almost unfathomable amount of information inside you, but that is not your only purpose in being here. You aren't just a robot, Shisui." Itachi sighs. He was a stubborn one. Though the mission was likely all Shisui really had.

That…was impossible. That shouldn't be possible. Not unless…

Shisui's scarlet gaze flickers and he stares wide-eyed at Itachi. "Have you looked into the files?" The only way he could possibly have that much compressed information in him was if they'd added extra chips, upgraded them, and then downloaded every single server in the archives into them. So much of that would be classified, locked with Madara's own passcodes that only a few members of his trusted circle were privy to in case of an emergency.

"No, I haven't looked. Are you alright?" He tilts his head. Shisui was looking as though he had seen a ghost and perhaps in a way, the other man had.

"…I don't know." And that much was irrevocably the truth. Shisui had no idea what he was meant to do with it, but there was no way that such a download could have been an accident. Just what was his uncle playing at? Had they been betrayed? Had something happened that he wasn't aware of? And why couldn't he remember the reason he was put into stasis in the first place?

"Shisui, maybe you should sit down." The soldier looked as though he was about to faint. "Do you need a medic?"

"No, I-" Shisui shakes his head, battling the sudden sense of vertigo that, with his implants, shouldn't be possible. But his vision starts to darken around the edges, even though he couldn't possibly faint.

But then his legs give out from under him, and the last he hears is Itachi calling his name.


	6. Chapter 6

Stolen Time

**Authors' Note:** Thanks for the reviews. Sorry about the wait. Anyway, we hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 6

Within a private room in the infirmary, the mechanized pod around Shisui beeps softly as it spells out the vital readings of its occupant. Pale but flushed, his skin shined with sweat, Shisui twitches slightly, but is otherwise still within the pod. A tube lays against his arm, filtering a clear liquid into his blood.

Shock, Shizune had said. That was what had caused him to collapse. The sudden flood of hormones had overloaded the delicate circuitry in some of his implants and caused a feedback loop of unstable bio-electricity. Had he been ordinary, his body would have risked a great deal of damage. But as it was, his strong constitution had resisted the effects and merely caused a loss of consciousness and an imbalance of the neurotransmitters in his brain.

The doctor had confined him to rest until it was certain that he was neither delirious nor depressed. Whatever the implications of the news had been, he had not taken them well.

Itachi sighs as he watches Shisui closely. He looked so damn vulnerable. The man had defied the odds time and time again. It was a miracle he was alive, let alone relatively healthy and sane. Yet it had only taken the answer to one question to drive him to such a state. He couldn't help, but feel guilty. "I wish I knew what went on in that mind of yours."

He really did. The level of grief must be crippling, but Shisui had actually fainted. It was as if his body was trying to protect his mind from something. Had he done the wrong thing by telling him? Maybe, but lying to him seemed worse in many ways. After everything Shisui had been through, didn't he at least deserve the truth?

Shisui stirs ever so slightly, his eyelashes fluttering as his eyes open just a crack and only for a moment. "…Uncle…?" His brow furrows, then relaxes slowly. "…I'm sorry…I failed."

Itachi feels as though he had been struck in the chest. It takes all his self-control not to flinch at the pure agony in the other man's voice. "You didn't fail. Just try to relax."

Shisui was hallucinating. That much was obvious, but Itachi didn't mind indulging him in the small mercy of fantasy until he fully became coherent if it might bring him some measure of peace. Besides, given the wild hairstyle of his ancestor, it likely wouldn't take long for Shisui to notice the physical differences between the two of them.

The dark eyes flutter open again, glowing a hazy, unfocused scarlet. "Nightingale is compromised. Remote server…connection broken." The words tumble out in a garbled mess. "Shimura survived. All available intel transferred to private networks. Files have been restricted. Our passcode…open the Nightingale files. Plans to…bomb Inari. We have to…save them…"

"You've done well. At ease, soldier." Utterly heartbreaking. The man was only flirting with the edge of consciousness, but even now he was dedicated to his mission. Itachi didn't have it in him to tell Shisui it was too late. He couldn't lie either. So, for now he would play the role of Madara.

Shisui cringes, his face twisting with pain. "Sir, I…" His glazed eyes hazily move over the man sitting by his bedside. "Why did you come?"

"You needed medical care. I couldn't just leave you there." Itachi sighs, brushing those curly locks away from Shisui's face. The sheen of sweat had yet to dissipate.

Pale eyelids slide shut over reddened eyes. "Always…making you worry about me, aren't I?" He takes a long, deep breath. "Even if you don't want to admit it…"

"You do have a habit of making things even more difficult on yourself than they already are." Despite everything, a soft chuckle escapes Itachi's lips. "I'll always worry about you. What will be, will be. Stop punishing yourself."

Shisui sighs softly. "Only when the people I love are safe." His eyes flutter open again, only for him to squint fruitlessly as the reddish light in them flickers out. He tilts his head slightly, brushing against the gentle hand as his gaze loses most of its remaining focus and his right eye ceases to move at all. "I think…my implants need replacing. My eye is dead again."

"We'll replace the implants." The way Shisui said it, makes Itachi shiver. His eye was dead AGAIN. Just how many times had such things happened? "If you like I'll go and tell the doctors your awake."

The dark, unfocused eyes blink. Then a small measure of lucidity returns to Shisui's left eye, but the confusion remains. "…Itachi?" That…what? "Where…am I?"

"Your in the hospital wing. Your system was overloaded in such a way that you lost consciousness." Well, that was that then. He probably wouldn't remember anything Itachi said to him as 'Madara.' Well, at least Itachi hoped not anyway. "We'll have someone fix your eye. I promise."

"My…eye?" Shisui blinks, then moves to sit up, only now noticing the tube sticking into his arm. Ah…so that's what was going on… "…What did I say?"

"You said that you had to save them." Itachi bites his lower lip. "I'm sorry, Shisui." It was best not to reference the project for now. Shisui was already beating himself up enough.

"…I see." Shisui's unfocused gaze falls to his lap as he slowly sits himself up and leans back against the well-cushioned head of the pod. "So I was dreaming of them again." Or hallucinating. He wasn't entirely sure which. "…And I mentioned my eye? What did I say about it?"

"That your implants need replacing, and that your eye was dead again." Itachi didn't see a reason to lie about that much.

"Ah…that explains why I can hardly see." Shisui raises his free hand to his head and presses it against his eye. "You're not much more than a blob in my left eye right now. I think that the implant replacing the lens short-circuited. I think my right eye short-circuited as well. Thankfully, the buffers seem to have caught the energy and trapped it, so I'm not smelling anything burnt."

"Thank goodness for small mercies." The implication things could have spiraled even more out of control was rather disturbing. "I'm going to get you a doctor and we'll have those eyes looked at. Alright?"

Shisui frowns slightly and tests his palms for their energy pulses. They glow for a moment, then fade again. At least those still worked. "I'm sure you'll want to analyze it. Just give me a minute."

"Shisui, I'm more concerned about you being essentially blind than the scientific implications." Did he really come off as that callous?

After a pause, Shisui realizes how his words might be taken the wrong way. "…Sorry, I just meant…" Perhaps it would be better if he showed Itachi. "You'll need to analyze it if you have any intention of making a new one." He presses his hand to his eye, then slowly parts the lids and carefully pulls his right eye from its socket, holding it gently in the palm of his hand.

"Isn't that agonizing?" Itachi was not the squeamish sort by any means, but never had he witnessed someone rip out their own eye. It might be mechanical, but still...it seemed like such an action should be agonizing. Shisui though, was treating the action as if it was no more painful than removing one's glasses. "And while I see your point, I'd appreciate a warning next time." He shakes his head and takes the eye. "Do I need the left as well or is the left natural?"

Despite himself, Shisui shoots Itachi a rueful smile. "The left one is mine, so you'll need to analyze the implant while it's still in me. It's why the only scars on my face are the tiny ones around my eye from when I lost it years ago."

"That explains a great deal. I'll be back with a doctor soon." He glances at Shisui with concern. "Try to be a good Shisui and not get into anymore trouble while I'm gone."

Shisui snorts softly and leans back a little into the pillow he's propped up. "Believe me, I learned my lesson a long time ago about not running off with only one eye in my head, and one that barely works."

"I'm glad to hear it." Itachi smiles despite everything as he heads off in search of a doctor. Perhaps in some way this was progress. Shisui was certainly much calmer than he had been before.

And yet, the moment that Itachi is out of sight, Shisui grows pensive again. He was so easily giving out the secrets of his body, of the experiments that were performed on him. How long would it be until that came back to bite him as well?

* * *

Shikamaru's sharp eyes gaze into the operating room, where their headquarters' best surgeon had only now just finished her work. "I don't get what you're so worried about. She know what she's doing. And you spent four whole days reverse-engineering that eye of his, then called in Neji of all people to help you put together a new one. I don't think he's going to be complaining about getting a better prosthetic to replace that ancient piece of technology."

"That's because you weren't the one who saw him faint or half delirious when he woke up." Shisui had looked so vulnerable. Itachi doubted he'd ever erase that scene from his mind. So, he was indulging in a hobby he rarely bothered with these days. His hand glides over the paper with a pencil swaying lightly in his grasp. "I'm well aware of Tsunade's and Neji's skill level, but I'd rather spare him further surgeries when possible. This one was unavoidable. It's traumatic enough to wake up in a completely different era, I can't even imagine… Let alone not being able to see anything." Perhaps drawing would be therapeutic for him.

"I understand." Shikamaru knew better than to hope that this would be the only one. Unless they got orders from higher up to just leave Shisui in the state he was in, the soldier was going to be due for a few more to replace and remove some of the suspect components inside of him. And yet, it was what was still inside of him that the higher ups were most interested in. "I heard the recordings from earlier. Lord Minato is interested in looking into Project Nightingale."

"I'd be surprised if he wasn't." Itachi frowns as a million scenarios dance across his mind, gripping the pencil so tightly it almost cracks in half. "We'll need to do it gently or he will likely have a psychotic break."

And Shikamaru had heard that there were plans in place just in case that did happen. "…Itachi, in your professional opinion, having had some of the most concentrated contact with him…how should we deal with him?"

"Slowly. He carries enormous guilt over what happened even if it was beyond his control." How the man hadn't already had a break was beyond Itachi's comprehension. "He's the most loyal soldier I've come across when it comes to his mission. He'll likely do anything to protect those files. If we try to gain access without his trust, he will fight us on it and even if we were successful, I wouldn't entirely put it past him to go out in a 'blaze of glory.'"

"Then we need him to trust us enough to offer up the files of his own free will." Shikamaru had been worried that it would take as much to resolve the growing interest in what those files held. "I'll tell my father about it." But he eyes Itachi carefully. "And how are you doing with all of this?"

"That would be ideal. One way or another it will get ugly if we gain access to those files without his consent." Itachi sighs, adding eyelashes to his drawing. Shisui did have marvelous ones. "As for myself, I'm managing." Not well, but he was far from transforming into a basketcase as Sasuke would say.

Shikamaru nods slowly. "I asked around a bit and had a few special books and a gaming board delivered to his room. If he's any kind of strategist, I think he'll enjoy the selection of puzzles on it." It wasn't a solution to anything, but it was something normal. Something that might make their guest feel a little more anchored. "Maybe you could challenge him to a game of chess while he admires that sketch of yours."

"That was kind of you. He does need something to keep him occupied." He frowns looking at the drawing, shaking his head. "Though I doubt he'd have much interest in this."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Shikamaru had seen their interactions on video. Slowly but surely, it looked to him like Shisui was slowly opening up to Itachi. At the very least, he wasn't rejecting him outright any longer. "You drew him outside in casual clothes?" As far as he knew, Shisui hadn't yet been outside, or ever dressed like that either.

"Yes. I suppose, it's a fanciful notion. This is what I imagine he'd be like if he had been born in this era." Itachi winces. It sounded less pathetic in his head.

Relaxed, sitting back against a stone wall with a smile, dressed in a shaded shirt and a tight dark jacket that conformed to the muscles of his back and shoulders perfectly. Shikamaru suppresses a smirk. Just how hard had Itachi been staring at Shisui these past few weeks. "I think it suits him. Maybe he'll humor you at some point and dress the way you like."

"Thank you, but he has little enough control over his life as is. I merely drew him in this outfit because it suited the theme better. He can wear whatever he likes." He wasn't a doll for Itachi to dress up and the other man's expression was a bit too smug for Itachi's liking. He could read between the lines easily enough. "I'm not infatuated with him."

"If you say so." But Shikamaru didn't buy it. There was always a charmed fascination in Itachi's gaze when he watched Shisui.

He doesn't bother to hide his snort. "I'm not. That'd be highly unprofessional."

"But it would be human." Shikamaru yawns and shoves his hands into his pockets. "Good luck with him, Itachi. Just try not to forget the mountain of work you've piled on yourself. And try not to get buried so deep that we never see you again."

"Even if I was, somehow I doubt that he'll be interested in such sorts of companionship for a long time." Perhaps not ever. "And I can manage the paperwork."

"Alright, alright." Shikamaru raises a hand and waves it in surrender as he ambles out the door of the gallery. Itachi could stay in denial for as long as he wanted, but he didn't see the truth changing anytime soon. He was besotted, that much was obvious.

* * *

Later, Itachi makes his way to to the recovery room. Tsunade and Neji had used a less powerful anesthesia, so Shisui might even be awake. Even if he wasn't, well he had to see with his own two eyes that the other man was alright. So, that was how he finds himself 'sneaking into' a recovery ward, mindlessly gripping his sketchbook in his hands.

Upon his entrance into the private room, a single dark eye fixes its gaze onto him. And then, a slow, soft smile curls the corners of Shisui's lips. He raises a hand and makes a tiny gesture to beckon Itachi to his side.

He smiles. "The surgery must have gone well. You can clearly see more, or at least something." He moves closer. "How are you feeling?" Forgetting about the sketchbook in his hands.

"Better." Shisui's gaze falls to the sketchbook and his eye widens slightly. Was that…? "You've been drawing me?"

"Oh that...I was worried about you and had to pass the time during your surgery somehow." He feels heat creep into his face.

Shisui's expression warms slightly. "It's beautifully drawn, Itachi." Though he barely recognized himself in the drawing. "…Where did you draw your inspiration from, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Thank you. I'm not sure it's a good idea to say. I'd rather not risk upsetting you during recovery." He places the picture on his bed. "You can keep it if you like, though."

Though he picks up the picture and pulls back his hand, Shisui…was still very good at ready people. And Itachi, though good at schooling his expressions, wasn't perfect. Though perhaps that meant he was. Shisui's eye skirts over the page and he nods quietly. "These are clothes from this era, aren't they?"

"They are." Well, there was no point in denying that. "Obviously, you can wear whatever pleases you. It was just a whim that struck me."

Shisui is quiet for a long moment, but then he places the sketch on his lap and smirks. "So you want to dress me up in clothes you think make me look sexy, but you won't press it on me because you're worried about how I'll take it?"

Itachi was reasonably confident his body temperature just shot up by ten degrees. His face was likely was red as a tomato and yet, he was required to give some sort of at least semi coherent response. "Well, it was more about giving you clothing that would be comfortable than about the aesthetics." Well, it was a blessing in a way. Shisui apparently loved to embarrass him, but enduring that smugness was better than witnessing his complete devastation. "Not that you don't look good in these clothes or any other clothes for that matter, but yes. Essentially..."

Shisui hums softly and stares at the sketch for a good long moment. Then he turns the sketch over in his lap and chuckles at the sight of Itachi's flushed face. "That's a good look for you, Itachi." Then, his smile grows a touch sad. "I think that's the second time I've ever said that…and meant it."

"Thank you." He wanted to ask who the other person was, but thinks better of it. Itachi didn't want to reopen old wounds. "How are you feeling?"

"Honestly?" Because Shisui was used to giving less than honest answers when faced with that question. "Surprised. Because I don't feel like I've been dragged half to hell and back after having someone put tech in me." Not that it always felt like that, but…most implants took some getting used to.

"Ah well technology has improved a great deal. Procedures are less invasive in general now." Itachi offers him a smile, a sense of relief washing over him upon hearing Shisui's answer.

"Less invasive than putting an eyeball into someone's head?" Shisui raises an eyebrow, a smirk twitching its way onto his lips. "Because I think most doctors would consider that to be fairly invasive, no matter how well done it is."

"You know what I meant." Itachi tries his best not to pout at the smirk. "Still, you seem to be adjusting well to the implant."

"It's…" Shisui hadn't gotten the chance to use it yet, he would be healing from the procedure for a day or two, even with his enhanced healing abilities. "It's no more uncomfortable that I had expected. Less, in fact. But I won't know how useful it I until I can test my analytical abilities and depth perception in the gym." Not that he expected his analytical prowess to be fully intact anymore. For all he knew, they could have simply given him a functioning prosthetic and left it at that. It would be safer for them, after all.

"That's good. You should probably try to get some more rest." Itachi glances at Shisui. He looked so damn vulnerable. It was inspiring protective instincts that even he couldn't convince himself were entirely platonic.

"I probably should." But Shisui wasn't feeling tired enough just yet. Physically, maybe, but his mind was racing. And there was one person he wanted…needed answers from. "…Itachi…what exactly do you want with me?"

"I want you to be happy again. I won't lie and say that I fully comprehend everything you're struggling with, but none of it was your fault." His gaze softens, hoping that somehow the words would sink in. "You don't deserve to suffer for it. You survived, Shisui. Now, let yourself live."

And once again, Itachi wanted him to be happy. It was…such a strange feeling to have someone who wanted him to be happy. Shisui…could barely remember being happy. He turns the back over in his lap, his one decent eye taking in the lines Itachi had used to draw him. There was artistic license, obviously… Shisui wore clothes he'd never even set eyes on before. And he was smiling, but it was a smile that he'd never seen on his own face before.

"Are you alright?" Itachi tilts his head, watching Shisui stare at the picture so intently. "It's alright, if you don't like it."

"No, that's not it." It wasn't that Shisui didn't like it. It was just that the image was so…foreign to him. "You made me look…ordinary. I can't even remember a time when I was ever…normal."

"Well, I'm not saying it will happen easily or quickly, but you can be this way if you want. You get to choose your path this time around." It was a start. Shisui was at least considering it on some level.

"…I don't think I was ever meant to have an ordinary life." Shisui had grown up in a time of active warfare. He had grown up trained to be a soldier, agent, and tactician. It was his whole life. If all of that was stripped away, what was left? What sort of foundation could he start over from? What did he want…beyond protecting a people that no longer existed?

"Well, perhaps you were and perhaps you weren't." Itachi sighs, squeezing his hand, hoping to provide reassurance. "The important thing is now you have the chance to decide that for yourself."

Shisui hums softly, but his fingers grip Itachi's and squeeze gently. He eyes Itachi almost…warily. "When I was delirious…did I mention…Nightingale?"

Itachi sighs, he would have preferred almost any question save for that one. "You did, but don't trouble yourself over it."

If only it were so easy. Shisui takes a deep breath, his expression growing serious again. "I thought so. I remember a little from when I was half conscious. The Nightingale files are something meant to be discussed only with my uncle. Classified as top secret because of the contents. Even knowing the name is restricted."

"I understand, but you weren't fully aware of what was happening. Don't blame yourself over something you have no control over." Itachi bites his lower lip. This could get ugly.

"I know." Shisui normally would, but circumstances were, regrettably, different now. "But there isn't any point to blaming myself. After all, I am the only one who knows the contents of those files now. The secrets live or die with me." And Madara had made it clear that if he found himself the only survivor, he was to use his own discretion to decide how to disseminate the information, if at all. "…How valuable would the intimate details of the most vital espionage and sabotage missions in the third decade of the war be to your superiors?"

"I can't lie. It'd be extremely valuable information, but it's your decision in the end." Even after everything, Shisui still was being haunted by the past. This time it was information.

Shisui closes his eye, then slowly lays back in his bed, his body slowly relaxing into the mattress. "Will you give me some time to consider what I may or may not share with them?"

"Yes, of course. We're not barbarians. You just had a surgery." Itachi shakes his head quickly. Shisui came from another time. A more brutal one, but eventually that message would sink in. "Take all the time you need."

Shisui snorts softly. "Barbarians, huh?" To these people, his people likely seemed like barbarians. But they were still his, even if he could no longer protect them. Even if he would never see them again. His head tilts to the side, his curls fluttering across his forehead as his eye opens once more. And faintly, he smiles. "You're a very good person, Itachi. I'm glad that you had the chance to be born in such a peaceful world."

"I wasn't calling your people barbarians. Just...whoever they fought against. We've all seen the scattered bits of history. I can't imagine living through it."Damn it. He'd never stop putting his foot in his mouth it seemed. "You know...you're the only person that causes me to babble like this."

And there it was. There was Shisui's suspicion about why he carried so much data within his storage chips. The truth about all of the missing history. "Then maybe you'll have a chance to see the whole story for yourself one day." Shisui's eye glows softly with sadness. Then he huffs and closes his eye. "And now you've got me babbling. Well done."

"Well, it's good to see it becoming an equitable babbling exchange. Also please don't take anything Shikamaru may say about my personal life to heart. He likes to meddle." Itachi all but rolls his eyes.

"Right…" Shisui squeezes Itachi's hand to his chest, his expression growing soft and unfettered as he slips from consciousness into sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Stolen Time

**Authors' Note:** Thanks for the reviews. We hope that you'll enjoy this double update.

Chapter 7

A few days later, Itachi smiles as he enters the last room on the left in the recovery ward and approaches the occupant of the bed. Shisui's recovery was remarkable. Impressive enough that he felt confident in making his offer. "You're looking well. I've already asked the physicians and if you feel up to it, I can take you outside." He gestures to the wheelchair he was pushing forward. "Entirely your choice, of course."

Shisui's uncovered dark eye peers at the wheelchair as he turns his head, flabbergasted by the sight of it. "…You want to take me outdoors in that?" Was Itachi under the impression that he had somehow broken his back and both of his legs?

"Well, of course. You're recovering. It's customary for people who have undergone a major surgery to use these until they get their bearings?" Itachi arches an eyebrow, wondering why Shisui was looking at him as though he had grown two heads. Surely, they had wheelchairs in Shisui's era.

Yes…it was…but that was for major abdominal or lower body surgery, sometimes in cases of severe head trauma. But Shisui had suffered none of those, thanks to Itachi. Thus he hardly saw the need for a wheelchair. "I think my bearings are just fine."

"Glad to hear it, but indulge me." Itachi shakes his head. Shisui was a stubborn one. "Better safe than sorry."

Shisui stares flatly at Itachi. "No." There was no chance that he was going to sit in that chair and be pushed around like a child. He hadn't needed a wheelchair for an injury since he was fourteen. "I could pick you up, throw you over my shoulder, and carry both you and that wheelchair to the other side of this complex."

Itachi snorts. He found that very hard to believe. "I finally found someone who is as stubborn as my foolish little brother. Have it your way then. We'll try it your way." The masochistic way, apparently. "If you so much as stumble, you're getting the chair or coming back here. I'll leave that up to you."

With a snort, Shisui rises from the bed, his curly hair tousled and sleeping pants rumpled. He cross the small room and picks up a shirt from the small table and pulls it on. It fits comfortably, if a little tightly, but Shisui wouldn't complain.

Then he turns to Itachi and raises an eyebrow, his lips barely resisting tugging into a smirk as he catches the momentary downward glance of Itachi's gaze. "See something you like?"

"I suppose you are feeling better than I thought if you're able to indulge in such perverted muses." Itachi shakes his head. This was the rarer side of Shisui, but having Shisui trying to make him blush was better than the alternative. "Come on. I think being outside will do you a world of good and you can tell me what it was like growing up before all this."

"What it was like growing up, huh?" That was a question that Shisui hadn't really gotten before. His lips curl and he folds his arms across his chest as he strides towards Itachi. "Are you planning on making a project out of it? A collage? A scrapbook?"

"Yes, what was it like?" Of course, it was a gamble to ask him such things. It was just as likely to make Shisui spiral into a depression, but surely there had to be some happy memories. "Were you...happy as a child? As for the scrapbook question, I'm not entirely sure what you're referring to."

Shisui chuckles softly and pulls on a familiar jacket, one rather like the one he'd seen in Itachi's sketch. "It's just something my mother used to do before she died."

"I'm unfamiliar with this term. It must have been something people did in the past." He tilts his head curiously, leading Shisui out. "You can tell me about this scrapbook."

"Alright." It was a bittersweet sort of memory for Shisui, but…it was something that he could share. "But first, why don't you tell me where it is that we're going?"

"Knowing your stubborn streak, I imagine I already know the answer to this question." He intertwines his fingers with Shisui's. "Do you believe yourself well enough to walk up a flight of stairs. There is a beautiful view from the roof and no one goes there."

Shisui huffs and squeezes Itachi's fingers. "I think I can manage. Which way are the stairs?"

He guides him towards some nearby stairs. "It's only one flight."

So not much to prove, but Shisui would do it anyway to make his point. "Hold on to me." He moves smoothly, scooping Itachi into his arms as effortlessly as picking up a small child. And his steps remain fluid as he strides up the flight of stairs towards the door above.

Itachi squirms, feeling his cheek burn. "Shisui! Alright. Alright. I get your point. You're fit." He couldn't believe the other man was carrying him bridal style.

A wicked smirk curves Shisui's lips. "I've spent half my life in military training and operations. You never should have doubted me, Itachi." He slides open the door with his foot and steps outside for the first time since arriving in this time and place.

What greets him is the sight of a large silver sitting encased by a dome, sitting beneath a cloudy reddish sky. He'd caught only a glimpse of it before, at night, when he had been bent on escaping. But now…how different the world was to the one he remembered.

"You're looking tremendously pleased with yourself." He could be a smug bastard, Itachi concludes. Though the mood didn't last long. "I imagine it's not quite the same as you remember, but it holds its own tragic beauty in a way."

"…Yes, it does." Shisui gently places Itachi back on his feet. He knew that things would have changed, but to see the reality as starkly as this was…difficult in its own way.

"Well, at least you're not confined as much as you were before. I hope that helps at least a little." He shrugs, trying to banish his blush. "And if it makes you feel better, you can always carry me around. That does seem to do wonders for your mood."

"It does." Shisui was always less pensive when he had something to do with his hands. And if that involved carrying a beautiful man around, he was hardly going to argue. "So, you wanted to know what a scrapbook is, right?"

"Yes, I did and still do." He watches him curious. Well, it was a start.

"It's…something really old." And the irony of that statement didn't escape Shisui. "I didn't know anyone else who did it. But I'd heard that her mother and grandmother and great-grandmother had done it as well. It was…a collection of pictures. She even had them printed out on paper, believe it or not." To Shisui, paper was an antique method of preserving things. But…looking back, he understood why his mother had done it. And it hurt that the scrapbook was likely long since gone now. "There were pictures of me and Mom and Dad. She took a picture every birthday, every family occasion…she made sure that every time I grew even a little, she had a record of it. She even included pictures of me with my cousins and my aunts and uncles."

"She sounds like a very sweet woman." Itachi smiles at the concept. It was unlikely the scrapbooks had survived, but if they had he would have liked to have found one of them for Shisui.

"She was." Shisui smiles sadly, remembering that beautiful smile that he hadn't seen since he was very young. "…She died when I was eleven. She and Dad were killed in one of the first attacks."

Itachi sighs and hugs him. "I'm so sorry to hear that. You must miss them terribly."

"…Yes." Shisui slowly wraps an arm around Itachi's waist. It was unusual for him to be the recipient of so much affection these days, but…nice, too. Especially when the fact was that…everyone he had ever known had now joined his parents in the next world. He closes his eyes to shut away the world for a moment. "…Itachi, why have you become so invested in me? You have no obligation to me, not like this."

"I wish I could give you a more concrete answer." His gaze trails Shisui's form as if searching for the right words to say. "I suppose…I think no one should go through the kind of pain you're experiencing. There's something about you that compels me to protect you when you aren't making me fantasize about slapping you for your cheeky remarks."

If there was one thing that Shisui had been trained to do since the very start, it was to never let anyone know how much he was hurting. It was a weapon that could be used against him. Would Itachi be the one to wield that weapon? Perhaps… "It's not something that you can protect me from. And it's not something that you can fix…I'm sorry. This is my life. I'm the one who has to try to live whatever is left of it."

"I know it's your life. You were the one who asked." Itachi loosens his hold, unsure of how to proceed. "It's not my fault if you don't like the answer."

Pale, gentle fingers rise to stroke Itachi's cheek. "That's not what I meant." Shisui hated showing weakness, but right now, he felt weak. Not physically weak, but his heart…it hurt in ways he wasn't supposed to let it. But it ached anyway. "I don't want you to have false hopes. You like to fix things. But unless you find a way to send me back in time, I don't see a way to make things feel right again."

The gentle touch shocks him in ways that Itachi knew he'd never be able to express in words. "I do like to fix things. What happened to you wasn't right and while I don't have the ability to send you back in time, I do know you have the opportunity to live a far better life here."

And here they were again. Itachi, telling him that he could have a new life, a better life, and Shisui at a loss for what to do with it even if he had it. He closes his eye for a moment and breathes in deeply, then slowly opens it again. "I suppose that…if I'm going to do that, I should at least have the bandages off first. Best to see this life you envision with both eyes."

"Did the physicians say the bandages could be removed yet?" It seemed too soon. Knowing Shisui, he was trying to hasten the time table.

Shisui huffs softly. "She said four days, to be safe. Today is the fourth day." He'd been patient to humor her, but Shisui knew on the second day that he could have taken them off and been fine. After all, it wasn't as if they'd transplanted something organic.

"I do hope for your sake you aren't playing loose with the truth." Sighing softly, Itachi reaches and with the utmost gentleness undoes the bandages. "Can you see anything?"

Slowly, Shisui blinks his new mechanical eye open. The pupil expands and contracts in the semi-natural light. His real eye blinks rapidly, slowing gradually as the man before him comes into proper focus. "…I can." He would even venture to say that his eyesight was better than before. Whether that would hold true, however…he had yet to find out. "How does it look?"

"It looks as if it was the eye you were born with. Try smiling and I'm certain you'll have the women swooning." Itachi watches him with amusement. He hadn't expected any sort of vanity from Shisui, but then again the man did alternate between two extremes. Grief and deviancy.

With a huff of laughter, Shisui smiles a gentle, genuine smile. "I'm glad you think so. My old eye was designed to look as natural as possible. It wasn't a secret that I'd lost an eye, but seeing me with bandages perpetually wrapped around my head was more alarming to the soldiers than the new eye ended up being."

"I imagine so and that's much better. The fresh air and undoing the bandages seems to have done you a world of good." He watches Shisui with suspicious eyes. "I do want you to notify medical personnel immediately if the eyes still pain you greatly."

Shisui smirks and brushes a lock of hair away from Itachi's eyes. "They didn't hurt. By the time the surgery was over, I was already beginning to heal."

"Good." Itachi feels himself at a loss for words. Though he knew he needed to say something. "Are you hungry?"

"Maybe a little." Or a lot, but Shisui often suppressed his hunger on a mission. Now, though…he didn't have to. And that alone was a very strange feeling. "Are you?"

"Let's go and get something to eat then." He smiles at Shisui, extending his hand to the other man.

Shisui's gaze softens and he waits a moment before taking Itachi's hand, his arm slipping from around Itachi's waist. His eyes glimmer with a hint of mischief. "Are you asking me on a lunch date, Itachi?"

"You are absolutely incorrigible but I suppose one could choose to look at it that way." He shakes his head in amusement.

"Incorrigible, but you like it." And that was why Shisui did it. It relaxed Itachi and set him at ease. And Shisui preferred to see him like that than…otherwise. It would be nice…if he could keep that smile on Itachi's face.

* * *

What…the fuck?

It had been years since the last time Sasuke had been so distracted that he'd tripped on a flat surface. But today, after only just getting back from another reconnaissance mission in the ruins of Inari, there was certainly a reason for him to just barely avoid tripping over his own feet walking to a table on the other side of the vast cafeteria.

"Itachi…?" He couldn't believe his eyes. It was no surprise that, as an Uchiha, supposedly, Shisui would be stubbornly up and walking around already after that surgery they'd scheduled days ago, but…what in the world was Itachi doing holding Shisui's hand like they were some kind of…some kind of couple!?

"You alright, Sasuke?" Naruto blinks, wondering if the apocalypse had finally arrived. Did his best friend and the most graceful antisocial bastard to have ever walked the face of the earth almost trip? "You okay?" Why was he gaping like a fish out of water. Curious, the blond looks around for the source of the shell-shocked Uchiha only to grin when his eyes land on Itachi and Shisui holding hands. "Wow. Guess Itachi moves fast. They're pretty cute together."

Sasuke's gaze snaps immediately to Naruto with an expression of utter disbelief. "Cute? That's my brother, Loser." It was creepy, disturbing, worrying. "What is he doing with our…" Their…Sasuke wasn't sure what Shisui was to them, exactly, but seeing them together was just… What was Itachi thinking!?

"They make a cute couple. I mean Itachi is hot. You are too when you're not being a bastard, but apparently some people like that since you have the girls panting over you." Naruto shrugs. Would it kill Sasuke to smile sometimes? More than once or twice a year? He smirked a lot, but smiling was rare. "I wouldn't worry about it. I mean...Shisui is technically over three hundred years old. That's a lot of generations. It's not like...they're closely related enough to make it weird."

"And how does Shisui being over three hundred years old make it less weird?" If anything, that just made Sasuke worry more. What if Shisui suddenly went off again like he did before? What if he lost his mind and hurt Itachi? He'd nearly gotten into a battle with them once before, and Itachi had nearly shot the fool. How had they even ended up like this in the first place? The last time they'd talked about it, Itachi was wary of even trying to become Shisui's friend, Let alone…whatever this was.

"Well you know, less closely related." Naruto tilts his head at the panic rising in Sasuke's voice. "Is it because they're both guys? Cause you seem cool with Jugo and Kimimaro being a thing?"

How was he supposed to explain it to this moron? "Itachi is my brother. And have you forgotten what happened the last time the guy went off on us and had a weapon? What if he snaps again? Itachi could be the one who gets hurt."

Naruto frowns. Alright. That was fair. "The guy just woke up and had no idea where he was. He panicked. I would have flipped too. He's been cooperating since...if he starts messing with Itachi, we'll kick his ass."

If he started messing with Itachi then they would just kick his ass. Sasuke wasn't so sure it would be that simple. After all, the last time they'd tried that, Shisui had almost gotten away, and he might have taken out a few of them in the process. "…He didn't even tell me that he was interested in Shisui that way." And of everyone, Sasuke thought he'd have been the first to know if Itachi wanted to pursue someone.

"Well, maybe he knew that you'd be a little skeptical considering Shisui tried to escape." Naruto pats his friend on the shoulder. Sasuke was actually hurt. The sadness emanating from those exotic irises was palatable. Like a kick in the gut. It was like looking at a sad puppy or something. Well, maybe a sad kitten would be more accurate. Sasuke was more of a cat type personality in Naruto's opinion. "Maybe it just kinda happened. You can always ask him. You two have always been close. Just don't do that judgey thing you sometimes do."

Sasuke scoffs and scowls. "Judgey thing?" Naruto must have been on something, because that was a truly stupid thing that had just come out of his mouth.

"Yeah. You tend to say yes or no automatically." Naruto nods sagely. Sasuke didn't hesitate over anything. There was no grey aware with him. It was all or nothing. "Make snap judgements. I mean it's not always a bad thing. When you're out fighting or something, hesitating can get you killed and I'm right there with you. Just ask him, though and think about whatever he says. Cause if you're all like it's a bad idea and put your foot down, Itachi might get cold feet. Maybe it's kinda weird to fall for someone who just came out of a pod, but if they're happy...well, that's what matters most. If he upsets Itachi, again we can always kick his ass like I said."

How Naruto could make things seem so utterly simple was beyond Sasuke's comprehension. It was like he lived in a world that was all…sunshine and rainbows or something. Sasuke had seen those sorts of pictures in the archives. They were pretty, but not at all realistic. Not anymore. "…Fine, I'll be 'nice' about it." But if Naruto thought that Sasuke was just going to let all of this go, then the golden-haired moron had another thing coming. "But last I checked, my snap judgments have saved your sorry ass on more than one occasion."

"My sorry ass is awesome and you know it, but yeah it's great on missions." Naruto crosses his arms, huffing. "This is different. He's your brother. So stop being so prickly and while we're on the subject of asses, I just saved you from falling on yours. Your welcome, Bastard."

Sasuke's brain rewinds the past several minutes and registers that he had, in fact, felt Naruto briefly catch him around the waist when he'd nearly tripped over his own feet. And now the moron was never going to let him live it down. "Hn." He glares briefly, then turns away from the cafeteria in a huff.

"One of these days, I'm going to bring some catnip in and see if that chills you out. You're acting like a cat that just got caught in a rainstorm." Naruto snorts, Sasuke could be such a drama king sometimes.

"I'm not a cat, Loser. That joke is getting pretty old." And suddenly, Sasuke had rather lost his appetite for cafeteria food. But that was fine, he had a few things squirreled away in their division's quarters. Sometimes he just didn't feel like dealing with the crowds in the cafeteria. And sometimes he just didn't want to sit around and watch his brother be all blissfully lovey-dovey with his new flame.

This was serious. Sasuke was moving beyond usual brooding levels. "You act like one, but seriously...you should talk to him, it's going to be okay. Are you sure that you just want to leave? The cafeteria is having tomato salad..." Sasuke really liked tomatoes. Naruto didn't get it. They were okay, but it wasn't like they were ramen.

Leave it to the moron to try bribing Sasuke with knowledge of his favourite food. He never should have mentioned to the team that he preferred tomatoes to sweets. "Yes, Idiot, I'm sure. I'll talk to Itachi later." When he did feel so… Sasuke didn't even know. He didn't DO feelings. He did missions, cause and effect, planning things out to accomplish a goal. Feelings…feelings were messy, unpredictable, and they got in the way of the job getting done. Sasuke hated it when feelings got in the way of his goals.

"Okay and when you talk to him, don't give him that look like you wanna punch him." Naruto nods, watching Sasuke carefully. It was probably best to retreat for now. Knowing the antisocial bastard, he probably had another 10 to 15 seconds before this came to blows and Granny Tsunade would be on his ass, if they tore up the cafeteria. "Like you're giving me now. I'll see you later. Itachi's gonna be okay. He's got you to look out for him."

"…Hn." Sasuke watches as Naruto slowly makes his retreat. …He'd gone and done it again, hadn't he? As usual, Sasuke Uchiha excelled in driving people away from him with his worry and his temper. It wasn't…on purpose, not exactly. Well, it was with the girls in the cafeteria who would try their best to fawn over him. Not to mention the nurses who might get a little too eager during physicals.

But…maybe this was for the best. After all, the less people he had close to him, the less he had to lose in case this tenuous peace blew up in their faces and the fighting started again in earnest. When and if that happened…there was no doubt that a lot of bad things were going to happen. And that meant a high chance of a lot of their people dying, as much as he tried his best to recover enough information to prevent that.

For a moment, he wonders morbidly if Shisui had ever felt this way back in his own era. From what he knew…it had been intense, open warfare. No one with half a brain would risk getting close to others in that sort of environment. So how could he possibly know how to treat Itachi right? …It wasn't like Sasuke was any better.

Maybe tonight was a night for breaking into Kakashi's hidden stash instead.


	8. Chapter 8

Stolen Time

**celestia193's Author's Note:** We are back! With angst. But you love our lovely angst, right? And we have seeds, lovely little seeds. The seeds of love! I think. They'll get around to telling us eventually. ;)

Chapter 8

Shisui lays languidly upon the padded examination table and watches Itachi with a faint hint of amusement as the engineer obsesses over the readings showing on that tablet of his. "I feel like you think I'm much more interesting than I really am." But not really. After all, Shisui knew exactly what sort of hardware was still inside him. But for a society so much more advanced than his own, they sure did find his antique machinery fascinating.

It was almost…nice to be fussed over like this, even if Itachi's interest was really in what he'd been equipped with. But…even then, Shisui knew that wasn't quite true. Not after their time on the roof, in any case.

"I feel you don't give yourself enough credit, but you're an Uchiha. So, I know you're far too stubborn to believe me right now." Itachi shakes his head as he looks over the readings. This was almost...impossible. "Your modifications are by far the most extensive that I've ever seen. Of course, I already knew about your eyes. I fully expected your brain and heart to have some sort of modifications, but they went so far as to modify your glands." He didn't know whether to be impressed by how creative and thorough they had been or disturbed that they had turned Shisui into a human guinea pig. Still, he finds himself snorting. "At the rate they were going, I'm surprised they didn't just go for broke and modify more...recreational areas."

"A couple of the engineers were tempted. It was their next project." Shisui smirks and shoot a sly wink in Itachi's direction. "But I told them I didn't need that sort of help."

"I'm glad to see that your self-esteem in certain areas is healthy." A smile plays on his lips even as Itachi feels himself roll his eyes at Shisui's boast. "We'll start with your eyes as you already had the surgery. From the readings, I've been able to ascertain they're capable of night vision, seeing thermal energy, and a telescopic function. Your original mechanical eye appears to have had another purpose that I can't entirely identify. Would you care to elaborate on it?"

Shisui resists the urge to chuckle at Itachi's business-like attitude. "Data processing, application, and identification. A computer interface for mapping out my surroundings within my visual range. It could draw on stored data and create an overlay for everything from threat identification to statistics and chemical signatures to mapping and navigation."

"They really did think of everything." Itachi blinks. The full ramifications only just beginning to sink in. "I was... impressed and a little disturbed that they'd modified your pituitary gland. "It regulates your hormones. Everything from sleep to your emotions. I suppose that explains why you've been doing...all things considered, so exceptionally well. The modifications serve as a buffer of sorts for the more intense emotions?" He knew he was treading on dangerous territory, but Shisui was in a good mood and the more information they could get about his modifications in advance, the better.

"They do." Shisui nods slowly. "They were designed with the intention of ensuring that agents in the field don't experience sudden mood shifts or chemical imbalances. And to improve reflexes, mental reaction time, anything that involves electrical impulses."

Again, the thoroughness was inspirational and bordered on being ruthless. They had reduced human bodies down to just their most basic mechanical components and figured out how to operate it at maximum efficiency. "I've noticed they modified your hands somehow. Can you elaborate on that?"

"They're designed for data processing." And Shisui remembered the day that they had been put in. His hands had needed to be bandaged for well over a week. "They're connected to the cerebral implants and my main data storage interface. I can control what data is transferred with conscious thought. The impulses run down the major nerves in my arms, through my fingers, to the surface of whatever computer interface I touch." He reaches up and touches the back of Itachi's tablet, transferring a diagram of his palm implants into the device and bringing the plans up on-screen.

"Impressive. They really did intend for you to be the perfect spy." He watches as Shisui transfers the diagram. "Does it have other applications?"

"The receptors can work with the implants in my palm to create electromagnetic pulses and bioelectric static shocks." Many a time on missions had Shisui found the ability to insert electricity into a mechanism, or person, to be extremely useful in infiltration and sabotage.

"You know when people talk about sparks flying, I don't think they generally meant it in such a literal fashion." Itachi chuckles, watching Shisui with a trace of amusement.

Shisui smiles faintly in response. "They did mean for me to be their best agent in infiltration, sabotage, and reconnaissance, after all. It was rare that I ever failed a mission."

Itachi's mood sinks slightly as the weight of Shisui's words sinks in. "I'm aware. You were well equipped with both modifications and stubbornness."

"Itachi…" Shisui had only meant to be frank, not upset him. He reaches out and grasps Itachi's arm, letting only a tingle of electricity through his palm into Itachi's skin. "You're the one who keeps telling me that I survived for a reason." Then he snorts softly. "Maybe I'm just too stubborn to die."

His expression softens, a ghost of smile forming on his face. "I don't doubt that's a large reason, but I'm sure it wasn't just your stubborn nature that kept your heart beating." Without thinking about it, his hand moves until it settles just over where Shisui's heart was. "At first blush it looks as though they've implanted something of a pacemaker inside you to regulate the rate of blood flow. Even without that and your...peacocking nature aside, you do have an exceptional heart. That's why you're still here."

Shisui's chest rises and falls slowly beneath Itachi's hand, his gaze fixed first on where Itachi touched the place over his heart, then rising to meet Itachi's own. He smiles ruefully and brushes his fingers over Itachi's hand. "Would you…still believe that if you knew what sorts of things I've done in my time as a spy and Black Ops captain?"

"I'm sure your resume includes more than a few activities that would make even those with the strongest of constitutions balk, but that doesn't negate your motivations behind engaging in such things." His eyes trail up and down Shisui's form, wondering if he should press further. "There are few things that are truly unforgivable."

Few things were truly unforgivable, huh? "And what if it turns out that I was a coward who ran and stuffed myself into a pod to avoid whatever terrible fate was dooming my people?" Shisui didn't remember ever getting into a pod, but…who was to say that he didn't have a last minute change of heart. One that he would now deeply regret…and never forgive himself for.

"I'd say that makes you more of a human than a coward. What would your death have solved?" He grabs Shisui's chin, forcing him to meet his gaze directly. "Had you not chosen that action, everything you worked for and everything you knew would have died with you. The people that you mourn would have been little more than a splotchy historical footnote. They continue to live on in you because you took the 'coward's' way out. You're experiencing survivor's guilt."

Survivor's guilt…like each time Shisui had lost himself a teammate. Any time that his team came back short one member…it would eat away at him inside, refusing to let go until he had sufficiently blamed himself for their death. He swallows apprehensively as the smoky black gaze bores into him. "I don't know what will be in the files when they're opened. I don't know what Project Nightingale is. And the only way that I could have as much information in my data storage as you say is…if I turned traitor and stole everything in the databases and the archives." Such a thing was unthinkable, but…technically a possibility. "I can't imagine any reason that I would do it, but…if it turns out that I turned traitor…then I trust you can handle what needs to be done."

"I know your ears work just fine as there is no damage to them and your modifications appear to be almost unbelievably intact." Itachi's eyes narrow as his hand moves of it's own accord. "None of us really know what happened. We might never know what happened, but I doubt you would have ever betrayed them given how you have behaved since you were found. So, stop acting as your own judge, jury, and executioner." If he had to slap some sense into Shisui, so be it. It wasn't as if the soldier couldn't take it.

Shisui makes no move to catch the blow. It lands harshly and leaves a smarting red mark across his cheek as his head presses back hard against the padding of the examination table. He slowly turns his head back to look Itachi in the eye as he takes the sun-kissed hand that had struck him and checks it for injury. Clearly, Itachi was much stronger than he looked. That blow had actually…hurt. "…Does your hand hurt, Itachi?"

Itachi pulls his hand back and holds it, rubbing it and huffing slightly as he glowers at Shisui. "You know...your face really shouldn't be able to hit back. I abhor violence, but you were not receiving the message verbally."

Perhaps he wasn't. It was funny, he used to be good at that. Messages were always received and given loud and clear. But these days…it was as though a dark haze had fallen over him. "I'm sorry."

"You should be apologizing more to yourself than me." Itachi sighs, placing his hands in his pockets. "In any case, your modifications are in remarkably good shape all things considered, but when safe it would be preferable to replace them with more modern versions. If they go haywire...we'd all be guessing at how to fix them."

Shisui grows quiet, mulling over the probability that they would allow him to keep any of the special functions of the implants he had. He wouldn't blame them for replacing them with more…mundane replacements. "And if I could give you the specs and blueprints for all of them?"

"I can't say for certain, but I'd imagine they'd let you keep them." He tilts his head. "If that's what you truly want."

"…I just don't want to feel crippled. I want…" Shisui had lived and worked for years with those implants, and to contemplate being without them was…daunting. "If you have the data, would it be possible to update all of them to function as they already do? I doubt it would be easy, but I have everything that you need. I want to be useful now like I was then."

"Shisui, one day you'll learn that it's not just your implants that make you useful." Did he need to slap the other man again? Probably, but Itachi's hand already hurt. "Though I imagine they'd be willing to grant such a request."

They would, huh…? "Then take these." Shisui presses his right hand to Itachi's tablet. His fingertips glow for a moment, then the glow fades as the transfer of a huge data file takes place in mere seconds. "All of the technical data on my implants and on the projects and prototypes that they were planning to test on me."

Itachi smiles as he takes them. "I'll give it to them. I'm surprised you trust me with something like this after I slapped you."

Shisui chuckles quietly and slowly sits up to look Itachi squarely in the eye. "I think that we both know I deserved worse than you slapping me."

"That's true. It still wasn't very professional of me. I won't apologize as your face decided to attack my hand back." He couldn't conceal a chuckle bubbling from up from deep within his chest.

"It's hardly my fault that I'm made of harder stuff than you're used to hitting." Shisui smirks mischievously. "Though I get the impression that you're used to dealing with softies."

"I have no idea how you managed to make me slapping you sound dirty, but you did. I'm not sure whether to be impressed or mildly disturbed." Itachi could feel his face burn.

"I think you know which one you prefer." Shisui's eyes twinkle softly as his fingers slowly slide up Itachi's arm. The tips of his fingers glow softly as he finds Itachi's skin, feels the way the fine hairs rise under his touch.

"Maybe, but could you do that without the modification?" Itachi didn't know why he was indulging in such banter...even bordering on being coy. Still, it was too late to turn back now.

"I could." And though Shisui rather liked the way that Itachi's body reacted to his touch this way, he allows the lights in his fingertips to dim and die and he tamps down the fire threatening to send sparks flying. He gently releases Itachi's arm and lets his hand fall to his side. "I'm sorry, I overstepped." He smiles softly, ruefully. "Old habits die hard, I suppose."

Itachi tilts his head, confusing shining in his eyes. One moment Shisui was flirting with him and the next he was apologizing for old habits. The contradiction was jarring. Almost painful. "What old habits are you talking about and I will tell you if you overstep."

Maybe. His self-control was questionable around Shisui, but damn it...he wasn't some damsel in distress from a fairy tale. He didn't need Shisui to protect Itachi from well, Shisui.

Shisui turns his gaze down and laces his fingers together, clasping his hands tightly in his lap. "I was about to seduce you, just like the others." And how he would have regretted it if he'd hurt Itachi that way. "You deserve better than that."

"That is one of the saddest examples of denial that I have ever seen in all of my life." A storm of emotions thrash inside Itachi's mind even as his words took on a glacial tone. "You can lie to me all you want, but at least stop lying to yourself. You CAN feel things not related to a mission. What do you have to gain by seducing me for the sake of a mission? You're already being allowed to walk around relatively freely, you've already been briefed, and you really have no concrete goals in mind that you aren't already achieving by cooperating. This isn't about some damn mission."

Itachi was tempted to slap him again, but thinks better of it. Last time he did that, it arguably caused him more pain than Shisui. Sadness and fury were intermingling in his veins at an alarming rate, though. His heart was pounding with a myriad of emotions he could scarcely identify. "That implies you have something to gain out of sleeping with me that you don't already possess. We both know that isn't true. You want me because you want me. I'm not like 'the others' whether or not you want to admit it or not. You masochistic martyr of an idiot."

"…How do you know that I wouldn't have anything to gain by sleeping with you?" Shisui had his tricks. He could extract information from target when they themselves didn't even know they had it to begin with. "How could you possibly trust me, knowing what little you do about me?"

"I know because you're a masochistic martyr of an idiot. Even if there was something for you to gain, you decided to be feign nobility raising these concerns." Itachi stares at Shisui, refusing to yield to his most recent attempt to make himself unnecessarily miserable. "If you really wanted to seduce me for personal gain, wouldn't it have been much easier to just shut up and do it? No, instead you wanted to save me from these supposedly wicked ways of yours. I'm not stupid, Shisui."

He shakes his head, leaning over the bed and grabbing the other man by the chin forcing him to look at Itachi in the eyes. "I'm fully aware that you've seduced targets in the past. I know that you've done horrible things that likely included kidnapping, assassination, torture, and who the Hell knows what else? I also know that I care about who you are now and not the caricature of yourself that you've created in your mind. You did horrible things, but you did them for the right reasons. You have a good heart even if your introspection skills leave a GREAT deal to be desired."

Shisui's eyes widen a fraction then slowly soften and slide halfway shut as he reaches for Itachi's hand and moves it slightly, pressing it to his cheek. "…I'm sorry. You're right, I'm being ridiculous." His eyes slide firmly shut, and a soft red light glows behind them as though shining through skin and bone alike. Then his eyes slide open again and he looks up at Itachi with an entirely different light in his eyes. "I used to be better at that, at taking a good, long look at myself. But it's been a long time since I've done much more than obey orders and relay reports." In a time of war…there wasn't much time to actually be a…person, just a soldier.

Itachi hadn't expected Shisui to agree with him in such a swift fashion. It was bewildering to go from rage and sadness to shock in the span of a few heartbeats. "Good. You know your life will be much easier once you accept the fact that, more often than not, I am usually correct." That wasn't arrogance. It was a fact. "I can understand why you'd be rusty when it comes to such things, but in this new life...you'll have plenty of time to rediscover yourself. Shall we start with why you were emitting a red glow from inside your head?"

Shisui's lips turn up at the corners and he presses a kiss to Itachi's knuckles. "It's nothing serious. I was just deactivating the hormone regulator implanted in my brain. If you want me to 'rediscover' myself, then it will be more of a hindrance than a benefit."

"Oh good." Itachi sighs, smiling slightly as Shisui kisses his knuckles only to kiss the other man's forehead. "Well, I'm glad that you have finally determined what should have been obvious in the beginning. I'm simply more stubborn than you."

"Is that really something that you want to be bragging about?" There is the faintest trace of amusement in Shisui's expression as he allows their joined hands to fall and rest on his knee. "I know that Uchiha pride runs deep, but…I don't think this is a particularly prestigious prize you're after."

"Yes, yes, it is something I wish to brag about." He nods at Shisui. The other man would learn eventually. "I thought we just agreed that I was right and you were going to work on your introspection skills. You are a prestigious prize as you put it. Don't argue with me. You'll lose nine times out of ten." He brushes his lips against the other man's. "Good night, Shisui." Itachi smiles as he starts towards the door. Either Shisui would chase after him and thus he won or his potential lover would spend the rest of the day thinking about what he had said. It was a win-win in his mind.

Dark eyes watch as the engineer strides out the door. He didn't deserve all of the chances that Itachi was giving him but…perhaps there was something to what he had in mind. He would know better once his head was clear. In a day or two…he'd know what he wanted. Finally…after years of suppressing everything, he might finally know what HE wanted.

* * *

Minato looks over the vast list of implants and programs discovered within their guest's body. He was more aware than most of just how dire things had become in the past, but even he couldn't fathom just what sorts of crises had inspired the extent to which they'd gone to make Captain Uchiha into the perfect agent of espionage, sabotage, and assassination. And he was so young…

"You say that he returned to his room after your…conversation in the lab?" Minato knew only that something felt wrong, but not what that might be.

"Yes, it was quite the illuminating conversation and one of a personal nature." Itachi eyes the other man warily. Minato had one of the purest hearts he had ever known, but even he would likely be skeptical of what Itachi was about to propose. "He wishes to keep the functionality of his implants intact and I'm inclined to agree with him."

The Hokage raises an eyebrow as he examines the earnest look on his promising young engineer's face. "Itachi…the man is functionally an assassin under the command of no one but Madara Uchiha, who is long since dead. Wouldn't it be…kinder to relieve him of that burden?" Not to mention safer for everyone around him.

"He asked to keep it. Wouldn't it be kinder for once in his life to give him some control over his own damn body?" Itachi crosses his arms. He'd never raised his voice at Minato before...not even slightly. He was flirting with being disrespectful...if he hadn't already crossed that line.

Yes, Minato supposed that Itachi had a point. The young man had likely rarely had control over anything that was done to him, despite his assertions that he volunteered for the procedures. A time of active war made even the most sensible people do…questionable things. "His desire to keep them is tied to his desire to be used as a soldier again, isn't it."

The thought was an unsettling one, but Shisui had already lost so much. He wouldn't take whatever opportunity he had to craft a new life from him. "Maybe he does want to be soldier again. Either way, he's cooperated and given us information that we never would have gained otherwise. It seems the least we should do in exchange is let him elect which surgeries he does and doesn't want."

It was a difficult decision for Minato to make. On the one hand, he fundamentally agreed with Itachi. Shisui should be allowed to decide what was best for his body. That much was not in question. The question was what sort of security risk he might pose to those around him if allowed to continue existing in the way he had before. As the leader of this institution, Minato could only allow such a thing if Shisui were loyal to him. Or…at least to the same cause of protecting their people. For that, Shisui would need to be convinced that these people were still HIS people.

And, of course, there was one way to prove that loyalty, as well as understand just what had happened all those centuries ago. "Very well, but I have a condition, something in exchange for granting his request. I need a show of loyalty from him."

"A show of loyalty? Hasn't he already done that by handing over the information?" Itachi frowns in both confusion and unease. That demand was vague enough that even coming from someone as kind as Minato, it was enough to send shivers of unease down his spine.

"Yes, he has, but many of them are still locked. Without knowing what it is that he's protecting…it's still hard to be sure that he's not trying to deceive us." Because, as much as Minato's personal judgment of the man said one thing, he had his position to consider. "I just want the access codes and for the files to be unlocked. I want to know that the information he brings is genuine. There are so many holes in our knowledge of the threat we've faced…and I hope that he might be able to fill in those holes. If he can, I will grant his request and look for a position appropriate for his talents."

Itachi didn't like it, but from a practical perspective he couldn't argue. Minato was only trying to keep them safe. "Will you tell him of this offer yourself or would you prefer me to relay the message?"

And there was the question. Normally, Minato would present the offer himself as part of the terms in negotiation, but in this case…it might be best to allow a familiar face to present the offer. "Would you consent to presenting him with the offer? He may take it more calmly from someone he knows."

"I'll tell him. I understand that I am asking a great deal from you, but it is the right thing to do." Itachi nods, his mind already whirling with how he was going to broach this with Shisui.

"Itachi." And now, Minato would drop the air of authority a little. "Given the choice, I would prefer to keep Shisui on our side. I just can't forget that there are many lives that depend heavily on my decisions. I need to weigh the needs of the many against those of the few. But that doesn't meant that I forget the few. Do what you can for him."

"You've made your position clear and I will help him in whatever capacity I can." Itachi bows politely to the other man. He could read between the lines easily enough. Minato was sympathetic, perhaps even very much so to Shisui's situation. Still, if push came to shove..things could spiral out of control quickly. He'd have to prevent that.

"Thank you." Minato's expression softens and a smile appears in his blue eyes. "And I'm sorry, Itachi. You've been laden with duties that are far outside of your job description. But because you do them well, we rely on you to do them anyway. If the situation with Shisui ever becomes too much…come to me, and I'll assign someone else to him."

"I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I think we know the latter isn't really a legitimate option. I'm the only one more stubborn than him." Really, the only way to outstubborn an Uchiha was with another Uchiha.

Minato chuckles softly and shakes his head. Ah…these Uchiha. Yes, he had heard many a tale of their tempers and their bull-headed determination. "I see. Then I won't keep you any longer. You can have a few days to deliver the offer. Whenever you think he'll best receive it is fine. Just keep him and yourself safe, that's all I ask from you."

"I'll do my best." He smiles at Minato. Realistically it was the best outcome he could hope for. "Thank you for this. I know you didn't have to."

"And I know that I shouldn't, but there's something that gives me hope about him." Hope that Shisui wasn't in fact here to stab them all in the back. Minato couldn't put his finger on it, exactly. But he suspected it ha something to do with his being an Uchiha. They were either there to kill everyone and everything in their path, or be the most loyal friend one could ask for. With them, it was love or hate. There was no in between.


	9. Chapter 9

Stolen Time

**Authors' Note:** Thanks for the reviews. We hope that you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 9

Itachi clutches the deck of cards in his hand as makes his way towards Shisui's room. His heart was pounding so hard that it was a wonder the frantic organ hadn't already burst. Minato's words were still whirling inside his mind with the ferocity of a hurricane. Shisui had to prove his loyalty and the only way he could really do that was by giving up those codes. Something that Itachi was sure would make the other man balk as if he was a wild horse someone was attempting to tame. And Itachi knew enough about horses to realize they could be very dangerous when spooked. Those hooves could crush skulls if they had the mind to.

After what seems like an eternity, Itachi makes his way down the winding hallway and finds himself standing outside Shisui's room. He knocks on the door and waits.

He'd agonized and was still fretting over his decision to broach this subject with Shisui, but Itachi had a plan. A card game would serve as a nice icebreaker and distraction. Obviously, just demanding or asking Shisui to give up those codes without any warning would only end badly. So...cards it was. At least it was something Itachi knew existed in Shisui's era. The familiarity might work to his advantage.

The corridor fills with a heavy, oppressing silence as no immediate response comes from within. The seconds drag on, almost turning into minutes before a soft, quiet voice calls to Itachi from inside. "Come in."

Itachi frowns at how long the silence spanned the halls before he got an answer. Still, he opens the door and heads inside. "I thought that you might be in need of some entertainment. So, I brought some cards. I thought that we could play a game from your era."

Within the room, Shisui's gaze is fixed downwards on the sight just beyond the window. Though there were persistent clouds outside, there was still a touch of beauty to be found out there. He laughs dryly his hands la against the sheets draped around his waist as he sits in his bed, still dressed in pajamas. "Are you suggesting a game of strip poker, Itachi? If you don't know ho to play, I could teach you…"

Shisui's inquiry causes Itachi's face to burn. Wonderful. He was blushing. "That's not exactly what I had in mind, but I wouldn't mind. It's not as if you'll win so much as a single hand anyway."

Shisui chuckles faintly, but his shoulders slowly sag as he turns to stare down at his hands in his lap. "…Itachi, have you ever felt…like everything was a dream, and then suddenly you woke up, only to find out that the dream was a nightmare…and that it wasn't something you could wake up from?"

"I can't say that I have, but that sounds awful." Itachi's gaze softens as he sits on the bed next to Shisui, tossing the cards on to the floor before taking his hand. "Is that how you feel?" Only a few days earlier, it had seemed like Shisui was improving radically, but now that his emotions weren't being regulated by the modification…perhaps this was only to be expected. Itachi knew. He'd studied the implants again and found out exactly which one Shisui had deactivated and what that would mean for the soldier.

Pale fingers twitch slightly as Shisui raises his head, letting his exhausted gaze meet Itachi's. Dark shadows under his inflamed, red-rimmed eyes stand out like bruises against his skin. It had been one nightmare after another for three nights. But even when he woke up, he couldn't seem to escape them at all. "…Yes."

Those eyes and the pain gushing out of their dark depths would haunt Itachi until his dying day. He'd never witnessed such a gut-wrenchingly honest display of...sadness before. "You've been through a great deal. I'd be shocked if you didn't have nightmares. And you're no longer using the modifications that buffer your emotions. It's likely your subconscious mind is trying to balance that out in the same manner your waking self and body are, only all at once. Anyone would be overwhelmed, but you don't have to endure that alone." He sighs kissing just underneath one of those hauntingly heartbreaking eyes.

Shisui's eyes close and he sways unsteadily, as if the sheets were about to be pulled out from under him. Translucent tears bead his eyelashes, then slowly carve new, shimmering tracks down his already flushed and tear-stained cheeks. "…I'm sorry that I was so cold to you, Itachi."

Itachi rubs the tears away with his thumb. "It's alright. Were our positions reversed, I likely would have done worse." Honestly, Itachi didn't know what he would have done. He did however now one thing for a fact...he wouldn't have coped even remotely as well as Shisui had.

Wracked with silent, almost invisible sobs, Shisui takes a sharp breath and squeezes Itachi's hand as his reddened eyes open. "I know…it's not what you want to hear, but you were right to take the kill-switch out of me when you did. If you hadn't…I wouldn't be here."

"You're right. It's not what I wanted to hear, but I appreciate your frankness." Itachi sighs, searching for something beyond pain in those gorgeous irises. "Though your life will become much easier once you take what you just said and apply it to essentially everything else. I'm always right."

Shisui chuckles wetly and lays his head on Itachi's shoulder as his arms slip around the beautiful man's waist. "That's sound advice. I think this time I'll take it to heart."

He kisses the top of his head, his hands now gliding over Shisui's back in soothing circles. "Good. It's about time. For all the brilliance of your mind, you're a bit of a slow learner." Itachi smiles teasingly at him.

Shisui huffs and bumps his fist playfully into Itachi's shoulder as he leans back just far enough to look Itachi in the eyes. A faint glimmer of humor appears in them for just a moment. "If I'm such a slow learner, why do you put up with me?"

"Because even if you're a slow learner, you do have a marvelous heart." Itachi smiles at Shisui. Well, there was life back in his gaze again. It was a start. "That, and I suppose I'm more of a sucker for a pretty face than I previously thought."

Behind the sadness flickers a spark of warmth. Shisui sighs and lays their foreheads together, enjoying for once the special intimacy of this moment. "And yet…I don't think I've let you see my heart just yet." How could he, when he had been suppressing everything that made him really human?

"Not all of it, but more than you might believe." He leans his forehead back against Shisui's. The gesture feeling so ethereally intimate that it threatened to take his breath away.

The closeness is a balm on Shisui's shattered heart. He knew in that moment that he would never be the person he used to be ever again But maybe now he could at least start to pick up the pieces. "The fact that you've seen as much as you have and haven't run is impressive, I think. Or it could just be that we both need to seriously question your sanity."

"The two aren't mutually exclusive." Itachi chuckles, looking into Shisui's eyes. "I might very well be insane, but it's a happy insanity."

"Then for that, at least, I'm glad." Shisui releases Itachi ruefully as he reaches over the side of the bed to pick up the fallen cards. His fingers pause for a moment over a pair of cards that had slipped free from the others. The king of hearts and the ace of spades. How…curious. He gathers up the cards with one hand and holds them firmly in his grasp as he brings them back into his lap. "So, you were hoping to distract me with cards, were you?"

"I'm glad you're glad and yes." He watches Shisui, a little amused at which cards he had picked up. "I thought it might be a pleasant diversion."

"A diversion from…?" Sure, Shisui might have been a bit of a slow learner with Itachi, but awareness was something that Shisui had in spades. He takes the cards and shuffles them, righting the two errant cards so that they disappear into the deck. "I can't imagine that you came in here because you sensed something was amiss."

"Topics we can discuss another day and no, I'm sorry to say I didn't know anything was amiss." He traces his fingertips against Shisui's arm.

"Okay." Shisui pulls back his arm and takes Itachi's hand, lacing their fingers delicately together. He brings Itachi's hand to his mouth and kisses Itachi's knuckles. His gaze flicks up to meet Itachi's as his eyes gleam with a faint scarlet hue.

Itachi smiles at the kiss, glancing at Shisui. "They're really beautiful. Your eyes. They always are, but the red suits you."

Shisui chuckles and a smile pulls at his lips. "Thank you, but you should be complimenting the one who made this new eye for me. Without it, I would be as blind as a bat. I owe him a lot."

"Well, I appreciate you wearing my creation well." Itachi laughs and presses a kiss just above Shisui's eye.

The smile tugs itself a little wider. "Do you usually kiss your patients, Itachi?" Even if Shisui wasn't strictly a medical patient and Itachi was no doctor…it still reminded him of a nurse he'd caught in the infirmary with one of his team.

"I don't really have patients technically. I build modifications. I don't perform the surgery." Itachi tilts his head as he considers it. "Though I've built modifications for almost everyone in this facility, you're the only one I've kissed. You should consider yourself highly privileged."

"I already do." Shisui looks up into Itachi's eyes, his heart aching for something he'd not felt in a long time. He reaches up and brushes Itachi's bangs away from his face, taking a moment to admire the perfection of Itachi's features, then presses a soft, gentle kiss to those pale pink lips.

"Good as you should." Itachi's eyes shimmer with mischief before returning the kiss. It was gentle, uncertain...and yet, it still makes his stomach feel as though a thousand hyper butterflies had decided to take up residence there.

Shisui leans back and pulls Itachi down with him as he circles an arm around Itachi's waist and winds his fingers into Itachi's hair to tilt his head and keep their lips connected. He nips at Itachi's lips and slips his tongue past them to brand the taste into his memory.

The thousand butterflies became a million in a single instant as Itachi feels Shisui deepen the kiss. He hadn't expected that, but instinct was a powerful thing and he saw no response to complain as his tongue dances along with Shisui's.

Shisui drags the kiss out for a few more long moments. And while he is loath to let it end, he lets his head rest back against his pillow, their lips parting as he stares up into Itachi's eyes. His fingers rub the silky strands of Itachi's hair between them and his thumb strokes along Itachi's cheek. "What did I do to deserve your attention…?"

"You were you and you trusted me." Itachi tries to catch his breath as he leans into Shisui's gentle touch. Hoping that when he finally made Minato's request known...that wouldn't be their last kiss. That everything wouldn't end before it truly had a chance to begin.

Reading the turmoil in Itachi's gaze, Shisui's expression softens in ways it hadn't in years. "Itachi…what's wrong?"

It was amazing how difficult three little words could make breathing. Itachi finds himself swallowing hard, he couldn't find it within himself to lie to Shisui. Not after that kiss. "I'm afraid. I don't want to lose you."

Shisui couldn't promise that Itachi wouldn't. Having lived his life, he knew better than to make a promise like that. Still… "It takes a lot to make me run, Itachi. But I don't like seeing that look on your face."

"I don't like having it on my face." He bites his lower lip. Everything in Itachi wanted to divert this conversation away from the thin ice they were now on. "But...I argued on your behalf. You've done so well. Minato is a good man and I know he thinks highly of you, but he needs proof of your loyalty." It wasn't anything that Itachi had ever wanted to ask of Shisui, but he could hardly hold the blond's desire to protect their people against him.

Yes, Shisui could understand that. After all, Madara would have required the same thing, only he wouldn't have been nearly so diplomatic about it. "And just how does he expect me to prove that?"

"He wants the codes to access your hidden files." Itachi swears that his heart stops beating as he watches, waiting for Shisui's response. "Whatever it is...you're not betraying anyone. It's a completely different era. He just has to know, Shisui."

Of course… Shisui understood the logic. Madara would have done the same thing, but again…not so politely. "…Am I allowed to have one condition to that? To prove that none of this is a lie to deceive me?"

"That's fair, but I'm not certain how we would prove that to you." Itachi frowns, not entirely sure if Shisui's condition could be met.

"Inari. I want one of your teams to take me to the city, or whatever is left of it." Shisui would know what to look for. If he was going to be sure of anything…that's where he needed to go. "I want to see what's become of my home."

"I think that can be granted easily enough. I'll ask Minato about the matter." Itachi kisses the other man's cheek. "I promise. I can't foresee a reason why he'd deny that request given the situation. You'll need to be escorted, of course."

And Shisui expected no less. Even just for practical reasons, he would need an escort. He had no way or making it to Inari on his own, after all. For security reasons…they would be foolish to simply allow him to leave their sight, or even let him outside without being fully prepared to kill him if he did anything suspect. He knew how war worked. "Thank you. I just need to be sure that everything you've told me is true." Shisui smiles sadly. "I think you would do the same if you found yourself allegedly three hundred and forty years in the future. As important as words can be, they're often no substitute for holding the truth in your hands."

"I understand. I can't make any promises, but at first blush...I don't think Minato would deny your request." Itachi sighs, tracing his fingertips along Shisui's strong jawline. "And I would have done the same thing in your position."

Shisui nods and closes his eyes as a few pearly tears leak out and run slowly down his cheeks. He sags tiredly and lays his head back on Itachi's shoulder. "I'm sorry, it's hard to be left alone again."

Itachi looks at him in confusion as he wipes away Shisui's tears. "What do you mean by again?"

What, indeed… "…I lost my parents when I was a kid. I didn't have any close family to take me in, so I…almost ended up in one of the orphanages. There were a lot of them, then. Mostly filled with war orphans, like me. It took them three months to decide what to do with me, that's when Madara stepped in and claimed me." And those months left in limbo, waiting to know if he would ever have a home again…were terribly painful. Shisui would not wish it on anyone, and yet…that was what war had brought them. "The second time was when I finally lost my team."

"I'm sorry. Life hasn't been fair to you no matter the era." Itachi wraps his arms around Shisui, embracing him. He could only hope that somehow it would provide the grieving man with some measure of comfort. "No one should suffer as you have."

"…No, they shouldn't." Shisui wouldn't minimize what he had been through. It had been horrific. And yet…that was war, and he was hardly the only one with a story like that. He takes a shaky breath, then straightens and schools his features to the best of his ability, honed from a decade of training. "And…I know that I've said it before, but I want you to know that I really am sorry for threatening you when I tried to escape." He brushes a lock of hair behind Itachi's ear. "It was wrong of me. I should have exercised more…merciful judgment."

"You had no idea where you were, what had happened, and thought you were still in the middle of a war." Itachi shakes his head. He wouldn't allow Shisui to feel guilty over that. "Reacting in any other way would have been stupid if not outright courting death from your perspective. It's alright."

"No, it's not." And Shisui wouldn't pretend otherwise. "I'm not supposed to target non-combatants, not even if they pick up a weapon. I should have just disarmed, dodged, and disappeared. It's rare enough that I engage in combat at all. When I do, it's always with other agents like myself, bodyguards, or military leaders. By our standards, you would be considered a civilian engineer on contract, and I never should have considered you a threat. The only real threat to me in that room was the captain, Hatake. That was my mistake, but I won't make it again."

He pokes Shisui's forehead. He was the most stubborn man that that Itachi had ever met. "Your life will be so much easier when you just agree with me from the beginning. However, I can't stop you from punishing yourself if you insist on it. I'll just have to get better at distracting you from doing so."

Shisui's brow furrows and he raises a hand to his forehead. "Well, seeing as my uncle isn't here to chastise me for my mistakes, someone has to. I would be a terrible agent if I made mistakes and didn't realize it or learn from them."

"You've already decided you're not going to jump the gun again. Fixating on it is just needlessly punishing yourself. Once a problem is solved, one moves on." He sighs and kisses where he poked Shisui. He was just too adorable in his confusion to stay exasperated with.

Shisui rolls his dark eyes, even as they glimmer fondly. He might be stuck, he might never see his home again, he might have failed in his final mission. But…Itachi's presence helped to make his bleak world just…a little bit brighter.

He could only hope that the light wouldn't abandon him too soon.

* * *

It had been a long time since Sasuke last paid a visit to the simulation rooms for a training exercise that wasn't part of his weekly routine. Usually, his simulations were strenuous and involved many obstacles. They were based on current information and present reality. Not…three hundred year old data that had only been recovered because of their newly found access to ancient data storage banks.

He'd never admit it out loud, but he was…anxious about stepping out of that door. Because just beyond the door lay an entire simulated city that required they be hooked up to virtual reality pods in order to experience the vastness of the landscape that waited there for them. He'd seen the ruins, knew how far they extended. Seeing those ruins come to life in ways they hadn't been since before his parent's parents had been born would be…an experience.

He glances at his brother, who had insisted on seeing the simulation for himself. "Are you sure that you want to do this, Itachi?" He knew that his brother had grown…attached to Shisui. And seeing this might not be good for Itachi. They had no idea how Shisui had grown up. "We have no idea what we'll find past that door."

"I'm sure. I feel like I owe it to him and even if I didn't, curiosity can be a bitch." Itachi stares straight ahead at the door. It had taken an hour of pleading to be granted permission to attend this simulation. Still, he didn't regret it in the slightest. He wanted to see what life had been like for Shisui before everything changed. To better understand what the other man would be going through.

He'd never actually taken part in a simulation before. That was yet another reason why it had taken so much training. Still, he was trained for the process in theory. "Are you ready? This is quite different than your usual exercises."

"I'll be fine. We're just taking a stroll through a memory file. I've seen Inari in ruins, so seeing it as a living warzone shouldn't be a problem." Though, admittedly, Sasuke didn't know if they were going to see fighting in the streets, or quarantine ares, or other signs of the effects of war. He imagined they would. After all, Shisui had grown up in a time of open warfare.

"Knowing something in theory and actually experiencing it are two different things." Itachi pokes Sasuke's forehead. It was still sometimes difficult to believe his foolish little brother was now an adult and a soldier to boot. He could remember all too well the little boy who had loved nothing more than piggy back rides.

"True, but I've been out on missions, unlike you." Sasuke felt reasonably prepared for what they were going to see beyond this door. So, he pushes it open and lets light spill inside the shadowed room. He…was so wrong.

"This is...far from what I anticipated." Itachi stares around at the pristine landscape and picturesque city in awe. Everywhere he looked was a feast for the eyes.

The skies were an enchanting shade of blue with ethereal wispy clouds sprinkled across them. The city was massive, but still cozy due to the positioning of the buildings. Most of which were large large and made of beautiful blue and green glass and what he could only assume was stainless steel. There was something mesmerizing about how the sunlight would shimmer off of them.

Canals wove through the city, carrying water-based hovering transport vehicles. Cars flew over the ground. A track for a sky-train seemed to float and curve through the sky above. Intermingling with the grand buildings were patches of gorgeous greenery. Everything was so peaceful. Had Itachi not known better, he never would have guessed this place had no real future other than ruin.

Sasuke stands just outside the door, struck by the impossibly beautiful city. It was…so different to what he expected. The sky was…blue, as blue as Naruto's eyes, the grass greener than Sakura's, the clouds as white as Suigetsu's hair and so light they could have been blown away by a breath. And he could actually see the sun's rays streaking golden light across the sky and bouncing off the buildings.

This was…Shisui's home. The place he remembered and had left behind to be thrown into their present. Sasuke…could see why Shisui mourned the loss of his home now. Saruta was nothing like this place… "Come on, let's see if we can find their headquarters." The door had dropped them off in the middle of a plaza, which wasn't entirely unexpected, but seeing as they were unfamiliar with this version of Inari, navigating might prove…tricky.

"Yes, let's. Do we know where they were in this era?" Itachi fidgets in his suit. It was state of the art, but it was also foreign on him. Still, he was proud of the modifications he had come up with it. If anything could help them in this simulation beyond their training, it would be their equipment. While he might not be a soldier, he knew how to arm them.

"Only vaguely. They were located somewhere west of the city." Or so it was said that's where the bombs started going off. So many records had been lost that Sasuke could only guess at what most of these buildings were for. "Kakashi once mentioned something about how our headquarters was designed while Inari was still standing. So it could be that we're looking for a disk on a stand with support towers around it." Or they could be looking for something entirely different. But looking for something familiar might point them in the right direction.

In other words, they had only the vaguest idea of what they were searching for and even that was questionable. "Alright. Then we should head west." Adrenaline and dread were pumping through Itachi. It was a dizzying feeling.

Sasuke nods and glances over his left shoulder, where the midday sun was only just beginning to turn west in its descent back across the sky. The soaring tracks of the sky-train trail off into the distance, so Sasuke pulls on Itachi's arm. "Make yourself look a bit less conspicuous." He pushes a button on his suit and it darkens and shifts until it can almost pass for ordinary civilian wear. "We're taking the sky-train."

If the old headquarters was anything like their own, they would have civilian contractors who lived away from the headquarters. There would need to be ways for them to get to work. They couldn't all live in the building.

Itachi nods. Their suits would stick out like sore thumbs. He presses a small, concealed blue button on the underside of his forearm, allowing his suit to transform into civilian clothes as well. "The sky train it is." The entire situation was so surreal. It was as if they had truly gone back in time.


	10. Chapter 10

Stolen Time

**Authors' Note:** Thanks for the reviews. We hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 10

Catching the sky-train was, Sasuke would admit, definitely one of his best suggestions. He had expected that a mode of transportation like this would get them close to their destination, but when he checked the maps displayed in holo-panels on the wall of the train car, he was more than pleased to discover that the last stop on the line would take them right to the gates of the restricted sector where the military installations had been built. It would only take them half an hour to arrive right at the front gates.

But, as it turned out, they needn't have bothered with the protection or the disguise. Sasuke had never been in a memory simulation before, but now he understood why they'd been allowed access so easily. While they could interact with object and other things that, in theory, would have a physical presence, it was as if the two of them weren't there at all. The whole ride on the sky-train had gone by without a single passenger noticing them. And when they disembarked in the restricted sector along with a number of civilian contractors, no one had even glanced once at them.

Sasuke didn't mind it when he didn't have to talk to people. People usually bored him to tears anyway. But even for him, this level of lacking communication was…eerie. "They say that the past is set in stone, but to them we might as well be ghosts." He glances back at the gate guards that they had easily slipped past busily checking identification as workers slowly file into the vast, sprawling facilities.

The central tower was a disk that sat atop a central needle, fanning out towards the bottom to support the bulk of the weight. Two hundred foot high support towers line the central tower in a circle, twelve in all, each with their own small installations and numerous staff milling about around them. And even from here, Sasuke could see that a second layer of security stood between them and the main tower. And likely more inside for the restricted sections.

"In a morbid way, it's rather poetic. They are ghosts of the past to us and we are nothing more than air to them at the moment." It was unsettling,but Itachi knew that Sasuke was right. No one had even looked at them. While it was merely a simulation, that fact was enough to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Perhaps this was what it was like to be dead.

"So what is the plan? They can't see us." Could it really be as simple as walking in? Itachi glances around. Shisui's era had been incredible. Pristine landscapes, glorious buildings, and elaborate security to keep it all safe. It was...heartbreaking that it had all been reduced to nothing more than rubble and ash in the end. Well, almost nothing. Shisui was still alive. With every beat of his heart, the history of their people lived on.

"We walk in and find our way up to Madara's office." Sasuke figured that if there was going to be anything important that they still needed to know, it was going to be up there. It might be destroyed now, but that didn't mean that an imperfect simulation wouldn't have some of the gaps filled in by the knowledge they had gleaned from Shisui's unrestricted files. "Shisui probably spent a lot of time there, so it should be one of the most precisely rendered locations in this whole city." He glances upwards at the towering headquarters above them. "What do you want to bet his office is right at the top of the building and has the best view?"

"Sasuke, Madara is our ancestor. Of course his office has the best of everything." Itachi couldn't resist a small smirk at that. The picture Shisui painted of the General was quite the dramatic one. How much of it was based in reality and how much was borne of idolization was difficult to discern. "You're right, though. It's likely the most detailed portion of this simulation. If there is anything useful, it'll be in his office."

* * *

As they hitch a ride up the central elevator, Sasuke can't help but wonder just how many layers of security this place needed. Yes, they were in a time of open warfare, he knew that, but even their own headquarters had never been so full of people openly carrying weapons. There must have been three or even four times the number of staff in this place during Shisui's day than at their own headquarters in the present.

And how many floors did this place need? Ten? Twenty? Thirty? Forty-five, apparently, and the top fifteen were strictly prohibited to non-authorized personnel. They were locked out of the elevator to the top floors. Well, Sasuke was an Uchiha, he didn't need fucking authorization to go meet his great, great, great, great…something grandfather. Or great-uncle.

As much as he wished he could break through the last fifteen floors of the building, the simulation did still abide by some laws of physics. Making the attempt would, at the very least, hurt. And possibly bring the simulation crashing down around them. Some laws of physics, however, could be…bent. "Itachi, if I pause the simulation, do you think you can crack into the coding and open the doors to the next elevator for us and control it manually?"

Itachi chuckles. It was a relief to see that even during simulations, some things would forever remain unaltered. His little brother's lack of patience was apparently one of them. "I believe I can. Pause the simulation."

Be that as it may, there was no denying Sasuke was right. There was something both impressive and irritating about how thorough the security was. Really there was no realistic alternative, but to pause the simulation and to crack the damn code.

"Hn." Sasuke raises his arm and brings up the simulation controls on a projected screen. He sets the speed of the simulation to so slow a crawl that it would take a year for any simulated persons more than a foot away from them to blink.

It was a little disturbing to feel time almost halt. "There. Now let's see." Itachi starts working on the code. "Hmm." It was far more complex than he would have anticipated, given the era. Likely state of the art and state of the creativity to boot. Still, once an Uchiha, always an Uchiha. Whatever he desired in a security system, their ancestor likely had coveted the very same thing, so that's where Itachi looked for a crack to slip through. So after a few minutes, Itachi sighs in relief. "That should do it. He was quite the cunning old fox in his day."

Sasuke glances at the elevator doors as they slide open. If only all missions were as easy as stopping time and letting his brother handle the coding. "You think he designed it himself?" He steps inside and expands the bubble of unfrozen time to encompass the entire elevator shaft. He would release the rest once they were upstairs.

Itachi moves with his brother. "I don't know. It's a possibility, but even if he didn't...he certainly made some precise requests of his engineers." Things that he hadn't thought would have been feasible in Shisui's era.

As the elevator doors slide shut and they begin to ascend, Sasuke chews on those words. Things were…much more advanced in this era than even his brother had thought possible. It made him wonder where they would be now if they hadn't lost so much knowledge and technology when this city was destroyed. This was the era in which the first stasis pods were born. And somehow, one of their pods had managed to survive over three centuries with only routine modifications for the first two of those. If Shisui really did open his files for them…well, Itachi was going to be up to his eyeballs in research material, that's what Sasuke knew.

He glances at Itachi and notes the wonder in his brother's eyes. "There's going to be a lot for you to study and learn when Shisui opens those files, isn't there?"

"Yes, there will be. Don't worry. I am a fast learner." Itachi shoots Sasuke a serene smile. That was something to worry about later, though. For now, they had a job to do. "First things first, we have to show Inari to Shisui and then we can get those files. Then he can finally begin to heal..." From everything.

"Yeah, but…" The elevator slowly comes to a stop, and Sasuke readies himself to start time flowing once they're out. "What is that going to look like?" They didn't really know what Shisui had been like before all of this happened. They didn't know his past, didn't know what his personality was like before he was a soldier, or even when he was one. He acted more like an assassin these days.

"You mean what will he look like after he's started healing?" It was a question that Itachi had often pondered, but one that he couldn't answer. "I don't know. Happier as cliche as that sounds. He has a beautiful heart...it'd just be preferable if it wasn't such a melancholy one."

Sasuke arches a skeptical eyebrow as he steps out of the elevator. "And how do you know that he was happy instead of a brooding teenager?" Brooding ran in their family, Itachi should know that best of all.

"I don't know, but even a brooding teenager would be better than heartbroken." Itachi pokes Sasuke's forehead. His brother could be such a difficult brat at times.

A scowl mars Sasuke's face, but voices from beyond simple double doors draw his attention. There was no hall on the top floor, just a small antechamber and a set of doors leading to, presumably, an office and maybe living quarters. He glances at his brother cautiously. They'd definitely found someone. "Come on."

Sasuke steps forward and quietly opens the door to the office. Instantly, he knows who's office this is without question. Only one person could possibly need an office this large, or a desk that size. It was even bigger than the bed he'd had at home when he was a kid. And the man with the spiky lion's mane of raven hair.

General Madara Uchiha, the commanding officer of Konoha's Black Ops.

It was impossible not to stare at Madara. The man's very presence was like a force of nature and the man hadn't even said one damn word yet. "Well, we found found his office and him. Let's see what else we could find." There was something electric about just being in the same room as the other man. Even though Itachi rationally knew that Madara couldn't see them, he still couldn't shake the feeling that the elder Uchiha could see them. That nothing escaped his penetrating gaze.

Before the general kneels a woman in a dark uniform, her head bowed and a full black helmet resting under her arm. "We recovered information from the third site where the fourth target was eliminated. I've included it in the mission file. They've begun a new round of experiments that I thought you might find…alarming."

"I see." The general holds the tablet containing the details from the mission file in hand and glances over the contents. "I will review it and present my findings to Hashirama. Thank you, Sparrow."

The woman, Sparrow, nods and carefully replaces her helmet as she rises to her feet. Then, she leaps towards the ceiling and disappears into thin air, as if swallowed up by the ether.

Witnessing history playing out before their eyes in real time was fascinating. Eerie really, but now Itachi knew without a shadow of a doubt what he had to do. He stands over Madara's shoulder and starts reading. And he was ever so thankful that he was a speed reader. It was a talent that had served him well throughout his education and even better now. With every word he reads, his eyes widen in horror. "I know it was war time, but they...I can't believe they'd authorize such things."

Madara sighs as his gaze glances over it just as quickly. Then he sets the tablet down and strides towards the swath of windows that sweep across the back wall of his office. "…I've done questionable things to protect my people…but even I know where to draw a hard line. Shimura…you are the monster even I could never be."

Itachi breathes out a sigh of relief. One that he knew Madara would never hear, but he only just dares to exhale anyway. His ancestor hadn't authorized those experiments. Someone else had. Shimura. That name sounded vaguely familiar.

Sasuke strides over to the table and looks at the information displayed on the tablet. His heart nearly stops. He wasn't a scientist by trade, but he knew what a virus's chemical structure looked like. And if this description was accurate… "Whoever authorized these experiments was trying to wipe out the continent." And, he supposed, for those who were immune…the energy weapon experiments would finish the job. Explosives…energy bombs. If they were upgraded and scaled up, they could flatten a city.

"Yes, they were. Now we know what happened to Inari." The thought was enough to turn the blood in Itachi's veins to ice. It was nothing short of a damn miracle that more destruction hadn't been wrought by that madman.

"But Inari isn't supposed to be destroyed until two hundred years after this." And plans could change. Sasuke knew firsthand that Inari's radiation levels were through the roof. Which meant that the design of the energy weapons had to have changed before the city was destroyed. "Itachi, what if all of the information they collected about these weapons is stored in Shisui's-" But Sasuke's words halt as he turns his attention back towards where they had only just come from.

The doors of the office open and Madara turns sharply towards his visitor. And though his expression remains somewhat icy, it also warms upon seeing the face of a young man, barely twenty, with closely-cropped and tousled raven curls. "A sigh of relief passes his lips. "You've returned."

Hard onyx eyes grow gentle and a soft smile plays about the young man's pale lips. "Of course I did. It's not that easy to get rid of an Uchiha, General."

Madara huffs with amusement. "We're alone, Shisui."

Pale lips twitch into a smirk. "Uncle."

So, they were to witness the bond between Madara and Shisui in person then. Itachi tilts his head. He hadn't expected Shisui to smirk or to behave in such a sassy fashion towards the General. Then again, there was still so much that he had to learn about Shisui. Who really knew what he had been like before it all went awry.

Sasuke's history was accurate, though. There were still so many years between this incident and the end of Inari. This was likely but the first real step towards the beautiful city's ultimate destruction.

After another warm moment of silence between uncle and nephew, Madara's gaze hardens and Shisui's posture straightens. "Brief me."

Shisui nods. "We arrived at the site and found it occupied, as expected. We conducted the raid as ordered, but were pelted with a sort of…electromagnetic bomb when we got in range. Seven of our unit were killed in the initial blasts, eight sustained injuries that three died from later. Two casualties came from exchanging fire, one from an accident as we took the outpost. And…two more died from a sneak attack by a survivor as they were covering for me while I hacked their systems." It had…not gone well. "The garrison at the outpost was eliminated entirely, but we lost fifteen of our unit taking it."

Itachi winces at the brutal report. He had known Shisui came from an era of war, but hearing it from his own mouth made it real in a way it hadn't been before. He casts a glance at Sasuke. What must his brother be thinking of all this?

But Sasuke is relatively unperturbed by the report. True, he had never seen quite so much death in one mission before…but that didn't mean he hadn't seen it. "Some fights are worse than others."

"So I see. Be careful out there." Itachi nods at Sasuke, before straining to hear the rest of the conversation. So, this was what Shisui's life had been like before everything.

"I always am." Sasuke wasn't going to go down easy, he would make sure of that.

"I see…" Madara puts his hands together, tapping his fingertips slowly. "That's almost half your unit…"

"Yes." Shisui looks down and closes his eyes. "I'm sorry, we should have been prepared for the bombs."

"No, you couldn't have been." Madara's voice cuts as sharply and deeply as a blade. "I only just received a report on the existence of that experimental weapon a few minutes ago. There was no way of knowing that's what you would have faced."

To lose so many teammates must have been soul crushing. Despite that, Shisui was still issuing his report in such a calm manner. It was both commendable and a little concerning. How far did Shisui's control of his emotions extend?

Shisui bites his lip and takes a deep breath. "But if I had figured it out when they threw the first bomb…I could have saved some of them."

"Shisui." Madara closes the distance with his nephew and places a hand on his shoulder. "You had insufficient information. WE had insufficient information."

A tear trickles down Shisui's cheek, but he schools his expression to the best of his ability. "Then how do we get more?"

Slowly, Madara withdraws his hand and crosses his arms. "By putting those with the best information-gathering skills into positions where they can do the most good." And that was precisely what he intended. "Shisui, tonight, I want you to pack your things and be ready to move from the barracks. Tomorrow…I want you to go out and enjoy yourself. I'll have your things moved to your new quarters."

"My new quarters?" Shisui frowns, confused. "Uncle…"

"I know that I will be asking a lot from you, Shisui. And it's not fair for me to do so, but…sometimes, the only ones you can trust are family." Madara's eyes fill with steely determination. "Lieutenant Uchiha, I hereby offer you a place within the Black Ops as an intelligence agent."

Itachi's eyes widen. So this was how it all began. The precise moment that Shisui become an intelligence agent. He never dreamed that he'd witness such a crucial moment in not only history, but Shisui's life.

Shisui's own eyes widen, shock and a touch of fear filling them. "You…want me to be one of your spies?"

"Yes." Madara knew what he was asking and that it wasn't fair. "You would be part of a small, covert team. Your missions would entail…difficult objectives, but ones that I know you would excel at. And they would make better use of your intelligence than storming outposts in raids under General Senju. This would be to the end of gathering enough information to prevent such disastrous missions from continuing. We would be better prepared for what Shimura might throw at us."

The young soldier's gaze drops to the floor and he grows utterly silent. Then, he takes a step back and sinks to the floor on one knee. "I understand, I accept your offer. If it will protect our home and our people, I'll do whatever I have to."

Madara's eyes, though hard, show a spark of compassion. "Yes, I know you will." And he wished he didn't have to ask it of his nephew. "Make sure to report to our headquarters in forty hours to receive your tattoo, your team, and your first assignment."

"Yes, Sir." Shisui rises slowly to his feet, knowing that he'd been given his orders and dismissed.

But as Shisui ambles towards the door, Madara sighs softly. "And Shisui, in case we don't see one another tomorrow…please, try to have a happy birthday."

Shisui glances over his shoulder and smiles sadly. "Maybe one day." He disappears through the doors and the elevator beeps as the doors open, close, and the lift descends towards the unrestricted floors.

Itachi feels as though he had just been stabbed in his heart. The day before Shisui's birthday he had been handed an impossible task by a man he respected more than anything. Something that needed to be done to prevent countless deaths and would one day rob him of his future.

"Sasuke, did we get what we needed?" Itachi turns his gaze towards his brother. His heart was pounding and there was a feeling of dread pooling deep in his stomach. Spreading out like a snake that had decided to wreck havoc on his insides. Though it was in the past and there was nothing he could do to prevent any of it, it was enough to make him feel physically ill.

Yes, and then some. Sasuke had only expected to find Madara and maybe find out something about what happened to Inari, not…all of this. "Yeah, I think we can go now."

But he stops in his tracks as Madara places a hand on his desk and begins typing on the tablet. A computer interface springs up behind him, the hologram glowing a soft blue. "General Madara?"

"Begin compiling the files, Naori. Everything that we have gathered so far, and everything the teams will gather from here on out. And make sure to include the new file I'm about to send you." He flicks a finger and opens a new personnel file. "Project Nightingale is now active."

"Yes, sir." The female voice replies one last time, before the connection goes silent.

Madara rounds his desk and sits in the large white, rounded chair hovering two feet from the floor. "And now I have my Nightingale." He turns the interface and begins going through all of the latest reports. For tonight, he would once again be working very late.

* * *

Once they were out of the simulation, Itachi had the most unnerving feeling. It was as if the ground underneath him had shifted. "He called it Project Nightingale. Shisui is the Nightingale." Itachi frowns as he looks at Sasuke. This changed everything. "It's no wonder that Madara entrusted him with everything."

"Don't nightingales sing to foretell death?" Sasuke wasn't entirely sure, but then again, after that, there was a lot he wasn't sure about.

"I believe so. It's likely Madara thought the symbolism was fitting." He shakes his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

"Shisui…is Nightingale. Madara started Project Nightingale. What is Project Nightingale?" This was the first that Sasuke was hearing of any of this.

"There are certain files that we can't access from Shisui. Project Nightingale is the chief among these." Itachi paces as everything falls into place with a disturbing clarity. "Shisui was the Nightingale. It's no wonder he is so protective of those files."

Sasuke breathes out slowly as he climbs out of his pod and ruffles his hair back into place. "One of the files in Project Nightingale is the one about those energy bombs and virus weapon."

"Yes, it has to be." Itachi nods in agreement. That, along with who knew what else? The possibilities were as endless as they were terrifying.

"…I'll get the rest of the team acquainted with the geography of Inari." Sasuke already had a plan of action in mind. "I have a feeling that he'll want to go to the headquarters, so the faster we get him there, the more cooperative he should be." And if there was one thing Sasuke knew, it was that Shisui's files were more than important enough to suffer a day of playing tour guide and bodyguard to a former Black Ops captain.


	11. Chapter 11

Stolen Time

**Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. We hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 11

Shisui never really liked flying before, and to be perfectly honest, he still didn't. Heights were fine, he liked heights. From up high, you could see the whole world spreading out around you. It was gloriously awe-inspiring.

But the flying ships…not nearly as much fun.

Sasuke glances at his…cousin, he would go with cousin, who looked ever so slightly ill. He'd only ever really had contact with the man when his emotions were dulled. So to see him with anything other than a serious expression on his face was…odd. "Do you need something to throw up into?"

Shisui very slowly shakes his head, the lays it in his hands and lowers it almost between his knees. "I'm fine."

"Hey, don't sweat it, man." Suigetsu shoots him a toothy grin. His sharpened were anything, but subtle. "Lots of people get sick while flying. It's not going to hurt your reputation as a badass or whatever."

Karin swats Suigetsu upside the head. "I hate to admit it, but he has a point. It's okay if you need something. So this has to be pretty crazy for you, huh? Going back, I mean." She pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

Jugo shakes his head. Sasuke's teams always had such interesting dynamics. It would be nothing short of a miracle if they got through this mission without Karin and Suigetsu tearing into each other.

"Both of you, shut up." Sasuke was beginning to regret taking these three instead of taking Naruto and Sakura up on their offer to tag along. At least the idiot was less stupid than Suigetsu.

Kakashi's amused smile carries a subtle warning as he glances back from the pilot's seat. "Play nicely, you two. It's been a long time since Captain Uchiha has seen his home. We all know that this isn't going to be easy for him to see, but there's no reason to be callous about it."

"Sorry, we were just trying to be friendly." Suigetsu rubs the back of his head. Damn. Karin really needed to stop hitting him.

"They mean well. I'm sorry if they offended you." Jugo offers Shisui an apologetic look.

"Yeah. Exactly." Karin nods as she looks out the window. "So what exactly are we looking for?" She knew that Shisui wanted to see Inari, but the other mission details were suspiciously vague.

Shisui raises his head, but keeps it just low enough so he can't see out the window. "A residential area to the north of the city between the Naka River and Lake Tsukino, the central downtown market district, and my barracks at the military headquarters."

Before leaving, Kakashi had loaded the small ship's systems with a map based on the simulation that Sasuke had taken his team through. He sets the navigation system to chart a course to the northern sector of the city and sets them on a leisurely pace to their first destination. "I take it that our first destination is your childhood home?"

Shisui nods sedately. "I used to go down to where the river met the lake in the summers. It was always full of fish and I would swim with them when I didn't have to be in school."

Karin winces. It wasn't hard to discern the emotional impact of such a journey. This was going to be brutal. "It must have been lovely."

It might have been lovely then, but it was all ruins now. Suigetsu didn't really understand why the guy was torturing himself. "Yeah. Well, at least we know where we're going."

Jugo hadn't gone on the simulation, but he'd heard about it from Sasuke. Enough so to realize once upon a time this had been a thriving city. What must Shisui be thinking at this moment? To witness the home he had clearly loved reduced to... almost nothing.

Shisui nods slowly. "Yeah…it was the most beautiful place I'd ever seen."

Sasuke watches his cousin's melancholy and regret build. It was…such a waste. Shisui's life was wasting away because everything he loved and everything he lived for was gone. After this mission, Sasuke would write up a report. And in it, he would make a recommendation based on whether Shisui improved or sank further after its conclusion. Itachi might not like it, but Sasuke has to ensure the safety of everyone on this mission. And if Shisui was a danger to himself, Sasuke wouldn't overlook it.

Kakashi slow the ship to a crawl, but doesn't bother to land because…there was nowhere to land. There was just bumpy rubble strewn everywhere. And anything not made of stone had…rotted away. "…We're here."

"I'm sorry, Shisui." Jugo knew no words would ever make it better, but felt compelled to say something. The vision Shisui painted with his words was a far cry from the ruin surrounding them. The cruelty and destruction people could wreck on one another never failed to astonish him. It was one of the reasons he had become a soldier in the first place. To minimize such horrors.

Though unsteady on his feet, Shisui rises from his seat and approaches Kakashi where he sat at the front of the ship. The rest of the small ship had windows, but the most unbroken view was the long windshield of the cockpit.

…There was…nothing left.

Every building in the district had been flattened as if struck by half a dozen hurricanes. Mounds of stone and steel lay strewn across the ground, but nothing else remains of the once beautiful, sprawling neightbourhoods. The river, slowed to a trickle, no longer reaches the lake, whose blue waters were now reduced to a small, muddy puddle barely deep enough to put a boat in.

Shisui sinks into the co-pilot's chair and stares out at the destroyed landscape that had once been so familiar to him. He still…recognized bits and pieces of it. But it was home he shared with his parents…unidentifiable among the century-old destruction.

Sasuke glances at Shisui just long enough to see the look on his face, then looks away. "…I'm sorry, Shisui."

"…So am I." Because Shisui hadn't been able to save them. If he had done his mission properly…this city would still be standing, and the people down there would be living their lives. Instead…now they were dust in the wind. He doubted that there were any remains left to be found. "We'll pass over the market district on our way to the headquarters. But I want to get out once we're there."

"Of course. Take all the time to explore you need." Karin places her hand on Shisui. She had never witnessed someone shatter. He was with them. Still coherent and sane. On the outside, perfectly composed. None of that could hide the pain in his eyes, though. There were some things that not even the most skilled agents could disguise and that was one of them. Shisui's heart had been wounded by something far more unforgiving than a bullet. By complete and utter loss.

"…I don't need to explore." No, to prove that all of this was real, Shisui just had to go and get a few things. "I just need to go to the barracks to see if my room is still intact."

"You think that your room might still be intact after the city was bombed?" Sasuke frowns slightly as Kakashi turns the ship around and charts a course over the market district and towards the headquarters he and Itachi had explored.

"It's likely, yes." Shisui knew how hard it was to find that place, let alone destroy it.

"Guess you must have been super important and had a reinforced room or something." Suigetsu tilts his head as he considers the possibilities. Why else would Shisui really think his room might still be standing?

That…wasn't entirely untrue. "I was in the Black Ops. Our barracks were separate from the regular troops. We stayed in a bunker underneath the main tower, reinforced and protected in case of an attack. It was designed so that, if there was an attack, there was an increased chance that some of the intelligence agents might survive." Shisui sighs. "And…seeing as I'm the only one left, you can guess why."

Right. He'd really put his foot in his mouth there. "Sorry, man. That's gotta be rough." What did someone say in a situation like this? Suigetsu had never been good at the whole touchy feely comforting thing.

"…We were always told to be prepared in case something like this happened. I just…never thought that it would be me." Especially since the how…didn't make any sense.

"Uchiha." Kakashi nods towards the rubble below. "Is this the downtown core?"

Shisui looks out the window and recognizes the holoscreens of a number of the buildings he would walk past as a kid. "…Yes." And a few stray business logos had survived long past the point where anyone could be there to run the stores. It was just another pang in his heart. Hundreds of thousands of people would walk these streets every day… He looks to the south to see where the market was and sighs. It was just a crater now.

Now, Sasuke was beginning to regret not bringing Itachi. His brother would have known how to comfort Shisui. As it was…the awkward silence just stretched on.

Karin takes Shisui's hand and gives it a light squeeze. "It's going to be okay. You can do what you need to." She didn't really know what to say, but someone needed to do something. Watching the guy just stand there all shattered was soul wrenching.

What he needed to do… "Yes, I know." And Shisui knew exactly what he would do after getting his gear. Unlock the files, hand them over, then finish his last mission.

* * *

It was an unsettling feeling. Knowing precisely what these ruins had looked like during their prime. Not long ago, Sasuke had been treated the sight of a bustling city and now, it was like walking into a tomb.

Quiet. Silent as death. Shisui was undoubtedly being tormented by his own inner demons and haunted by images of the past while Jugo was maintaining a respectable silence. As for Sasuke, he didn't know what to say.

There was one thing he knew for sure, though. He was glad that Suigetsu and Karin had gone off on a separate mission to salvage what they could. At least...it would be a respectful, uncomfortable silence instead of whatever those two would blurt out. As for Kakashi, well he was back with the ship. Someone had to defend it. Though Sasuke doubted there was anyone around to defend it from, old habits died hard.

Shisui scans through the rubble, his eyes glowing a sharp, cutting scarlet. Diagrams and notes pop up, courtesy of him implants. But thus far, nothing particularly useful reveals itself to him. He would have to dig, he knew that for a fact. But how much…that depended entirely on how much rubble had fallen and where.

The tower that had once held all of their most important operations…looks like it had been hit on all sides and shattered. Anyone who was in it at the time would have been killed instantly. It disheartens Shisui to know that the place tasked with keeping their people safe hadn't kept them so safe after all.

But his eyes find the thinnest pile of rubble close to the entrance. Right over the entrance, actually. "This way." He bends his knees and springs into the air, jumping a full twenty feet up and onto the rubble piles.

Sasuke stares in awe. Even by their standards, such a jump was impressive. Still, he follows Shisui quietly. Jugo trailing not far behind. "What are we looking for?"

Surely, there had to be something that Shisui wanted to find. Otherwise why would he request to see the ruins? Just to torment himself further with the physical evidence of a past that would never return? He doubted Shisui was that much of a masochist.

Shisui sighs quietly. "We're looking for the barracks so I can get into my room and collect my stuff, if any of it is still there." He jumps down another ten feet, then fifteen feet into a small dip in the ground. "The bunker is covered in ten feet of rubble and a foot and a half of dirt." He reaches for pieces of metal and stone and tugs on them, finding that a few of them are loose. He stars collecting the loose pieces and tossing them over his shoulder, where they land several meters away.

Sasuke and Jugo join in the search for awhile, until their sensors locate the doors of the barracks underneath all the rubble and dirt. "Stand back. I'm going to clear most of it. It's faster. My modifications were designed to increase my physical strength." Once they were clear, Jugo slams his fist into the ground, sending feet upon feet of rubble and dirt in the opposite direction.

Shisui shields his eyes as the rubble goes flying, but uncovers them to admire the quick work that Jugo had made of the pile. "…Thank you." When the dust settles, Shisui kneels on the ground next to the doors laying at an angle, leading underground. They were a good three feet thick and Jugo's strike had barely dented them.

He searches for a power source, but finds it drained. "Alright…" He presses his hand to the door and sends an electrical pulse from his fingertips to jumpstart the controls within the door. The controls don't respond. He tries again. Still nothing. "Come on…" He sends a third pulse into the door and a slow, sluggish beep answers him. "Good…the circuits aren't completely fried." The door slides open with a creak and he takes a step down the stairs, then another as the lights flicker weakly to life.

"You're welcome." Jugo nods as he and Sasuke follow Shisui. He was the only one who knew where they were really going. The only one who would know how to operate whatever was down here. Jugo could only hope that this would somehow bring the other man peace or that they would find something worth reopening the wounds of his heart.

Shisui descends into the barely lit depths, following the staircase that takes them deep underground into a solid bunker of steel and concrete and stone. He pulls up a map within his visual implants and takes his first right, then a left, then another left, and finally down a long corridor with a door at the end of it. He places his hand on the interface next to the door and powers it awake, forcing it to open for him.

He steps through the door and into a large room with fluorescent lights lining the ceiling. And lining the walls on three floors accessed by stairs and balconies are doors leading out of the hall. Shisui breathes deeply, then glances over his shoulder at his two escorts. "Welcome to the barracks for the Black Ops of the Konoha military based in Inari."

Sasuke blinks as he stares around in awe. That shouldn't be possible. The barracks were actually still standing. "We actually found them." Sasuke had expected nothing but rubble, but it was still intact. Now it was just up to them to find anything useful that may have been left behind.

Shisui closes his eyes, then turns to Sasuke seriously. "The overriding access code is 835-83345-98643-95723. That is Madara's own passcode for this facility. If you want to take anything from the other rooms, if there's anything left, go ahead." Shisui then looks up to a room on the far left side of the second floor. "I want to see if my room's been cleared out or not."

He puts his hand on the railing and ascends the stairs without waiting for Sasuke's response. Sasuke could choose to stay or follow. But Shisui would find what was his if it remained.

Sasuke decides to follow Shisui. He gestures for Jugo to scope out the other rooms. Shisui's room would likely hold the most value if there was anything left in it.

It was a strange feeling, to be walking by the rooms that once belonged to former teammates, predecessors, successors. How long had the Black Ops been operational after Shisui disappeared, he wondered…

Finally, he stops in front of the last door, one still bearing the nameplate engraved with a fan and the name Uchiha. "…I'm home." As much of a home as it was. It was the only one he had.

Shisui places his hand over the scanner and doesn't flinch when it takes a sample of his blood. The door slides open with a much cleaner click. "Welcome back, Shisui."

Sasuke watches Shisui with concerned eyes. He couldn't imagine what the other man was feeling as he took in everything. What he must be remembering. Who he was remembering.

Shisui steps into his room and flicks on the light. It sputters, then brightens just enough to cast the room in a soft glow. His desk workbench sits at the foot of his bed, his duffel stashed under the desk. His closet is closed and the wall panels are sealed shut. Just the way he left it. Save for the thick coating of dust on every surface.

He presses a button on the wall, and with a whir, the air currents in the room change and the dust begins disappearing into vents all along the floor and ceiling. "Sometimes I would be gone on a long mission. It was nice to not have to dust everything every time I came home."

Then Shisui pulls his duffel out from under his desk and pushes two buttons on the wall, one opening his closet, the other opening the wall panels on the left side of the room. In his closet hangs old, but clean clothes preserved by the airtight space. Behind the panels, however, sit eight handguns and three rifles, sixteen metal blades, three energy blades, and a number of belts and pouches for carrying everything from poison to explosives.

"Yeah. That's useful. I hate dusting myself." Sasuke nods in understanding, but his eyes were drawn to all the weapons. "You were all really prepared." For almost anything, but unfortunately it hadn't been enough.

"Yeah." Shisui considers the selection before him, then moves to the closet to first pack all of his clothes, at least what he had, into his duffel. He lays them out in a nest-like pattern, providing a safe, cushioned place for some of the weapons. "We were given the best of everything, as well as prototypes." Shisui points to five of the items hanging in his wall. "I got more prototypes than anyone else. I was always a favourite guinea pig, whether it was for weapons or new implants."

"How did you feel about that? Being the one they tested on first?" It had to be nerve-wracking, maybe even terrifying. Still, Shisui was speaking of the whole thing so calmly.

Shisui glances at Sasuke and sighs as he places all but two of the guns and six of the blades into his duffel and wraps them up. "You know, you sounded just like Itachi. You two seem to be very concerned for my status as favourite guinea pig."

"It's called not being an asshole." Sasuke shrugs, letting Shisui do as he pleased. He was the one who knew the weaponry best, after all and he'd more than earned the right to decide what happened to it.

Shisui chuckles and looks under his bed. He hums softly as he pulls an old leather-bound book from under it, along with a larger book with a silver cover embossed with a red and white fan. "Well, I didn't enjoy being cut open and having things put inside of me, but I understood the necessity of it, and I know that my constitution and pain tolerance are well above average. Because of that, I was an ideal candidate. And for that reason…I consented to the procedures for the sake of protecting my people. Because their lives mattered more to me than a little bit of pain or discomfort." He places the books into the duffel as well and carefully zips it up.

"You've got a martyr streak a mile wide in you." It was both noble and terrifying. Sasuke had no idea how the man was alive. His comrades had certainly benefited from it, but to compartmentalize himself to such a degree wasn't healthy. Sasuke had seen it before, but never to such an extent.

"I know, you're not the first person to tell me that." In fact, the people who had told it to Shisui the most often were his family and his fellow Black Ops. "But it's because I've always fought for something more than just myself." Shisui takes the last two guns and six blades and attaches them to a number of black belts and harnesses that he wraps around his thighs, hips, chest and shoulders. Once all of the weapons are secured in place, he reaches into the wall and pulls out a metal box that hovered several inches above the ground.

"I'm just going to tell Itachi to use the handcuffs on you and be done with it. He's better at this feeling stuff than I am." Sasuke snorts. Shisui clearly wouldn't listen to him anyway. Maybe Itachi could talk some sense into him. It was disturbing, but commendable in a sad way that Shisui would do that for his teammates during a time of war, but such behavior didn't come with an automatic off switch after a conflict ended.

A smirk tugs at the corners of Shisui's lips. "Do you spend a lot of time imagining what your brother could do with handcuffs, and who he could do those things with?"

"No, but it's clearly the only way to get through to someone like you and it's no secret you have a thing for him." He didn't bother to hide his eye roll. Pft. He wasn't that easy to fluster.

"Well, I won't deny that there's…something there between us." There was definitely something between them, Itachi's attention had seen to that. And Shisui was…slowly…falling… "But how woul you know what someone like me is like?" Objectively speaking, Shisui doubted that there was anyone else in the world like him. "Are there other time-traveling assassins with a vicious martyr streak running around that I don't know about?"

"I meant the vicious martyr streak component of your personality. Time traveling assassins are an endangered species." Sasuke couldn't tell if Shisui was making a joke or not.

Shisui's expression softens as he slings his duffel over his shoulder and pulls along the floating metal box, his room emptied of valuables. "Then we'll just have to see if the species goes extinct, or adapts to survive." He nods at the door. "Should we go and collect your friend?"

"I guess we will and you're right, we should." It was something at least. Shisui was trying in his own way. "Leaving Jugo alone for too long in this place seems...cruel." Try as hard as he might, Sasuke couldn't shake the feeling they were inside a tomb.

"Yeah, you'd think that they would at least improve the decorating in here since I left." But Shisui never really had gotten used to this place. He pulls the metal case along behind him as he strides out the door. "It's still as silent here as I remember."

"It was always this creepy?" Sasuke blinks. He had expected it had been lively in Shisui's day.

"Yep. The regular barracks were fine, people were loud and actually…had fun sometimes." Shisui remembered those days…almost fondly. "But down here, we were the spies and assassins who worked silently in the dark. If there was noise in this place, it was only because someone was sounding an alarm."

He nods considering it. "Makes sense given the profession. I'm glad that there were some good times at least." It hadn't all been doom and gloom.

"Yeah, some good times." And Shisui did remember those moments fondly. "Besides, if you wanted to see the Black Ops unwinding, you didn't come here. We had a favourite bar. That's where we went to misbehave, get into trouble, and hook up."

"I'm having a hard time imagining you getting drunk." Sasuke snorts as they look for Jugo. His eyes land on the gentle giant stuffing some items into his bag. "There you are. Jugo, we're getting ready to head out."

Jugo raises his head and nods, then hefts his bag back over his shoulder. A few pieces of metal clink around inside.

Shisui smiles…almost sadly. He would…never see this place again. His life was…over. And only now was that really…real. But he couldn't let it in. Not yet. He…had a bargain to uphold before he could shatter into a million jagged pieces.


	12. Chapter 12

Stolen Time

**celestia193'sAuthor's Note:** Are you ready for this? Are you sure?

Chapter 12

Itachi had been waiting an eternity for Shisui and his brother's team to return. He knew they would be coming through this entrance sooner or later. He almost felt like he was acting as a guard during wartime and in a way, Itachi supposed that wasn't far from the truth. Shisui was visiting a former warzone and one would have to be a complete simpleton to believe he was going to come back unscathed. The emotional scars of seeing his former home leveled, the home he fought so hard to protect, were going to slash into him with all the mercy of a whip drenched in salt.

By the time the doors finally opened, revealing the team...it was all Itachi could do not to wince. The expression on Shisui's face instantaneously brands itself into Itachi's psyche. That was the look of someone who had died a thousand deaths, but had been resurrected one thousand and one times.

"Shisui, I'm so sorry." The impulse to hug him was powerful. Itachi was about to do precisely that when something catches him. More specifically, someone. "Sasuke? Let go of me." Shisui looked...resolute, but not on the verge of lashing out violently. What was wrong with his brother?

Sasuke shakes his head as Shisui strides soundlessly past in his dark blues clothes and flexible black body armor. He's accompanied to the elevator to the upper floors only by Kakashi as the rest of the team comes to a stop in the hall. "Not now, Itachi." Sasuke knew how Itachi felt right now. He'd endured the terrible silence the whole way back from Inari and hated every minute of it. Which was something, because Sasuke generally preferred the quiet. "He's barely keeping it together, and he still needs to give his report."

Itachi jerks back. Those words coming from Sasuke felt like a solid brick being hurled straight at his chest. Right into his heart. He wasn't speaking to his foolish little brother in the moment. No, he was speaking to a soldier. One who recognized the signs of an impending disaster all too well. Somehow, Itachi summons the will to force a smile. Showing his unease would only make things worse for Shisui. He needed to maintain his composure and offer whatever sliver of comfort he could. "Very well then. Tell him he knows where to find me when he's done...if he wants to talk afterwards."

"He knows." Sasuke had known that Itachi would say something like that, that he would want to comfort Shisui after the fact. Shisui had given him a small nod of acknowledgment when he'd proposed that Itachi would want to see him. Otherwise… "Itachi…he didn't say a single word the whole way back from Inari. Right now, he's going to make his report, because that's the first thing he needs to do. When he's with you…he doesn't have to keep it together. You…make him weak." Actually, no, that wasn't quite right. "You give him the freedom to be weak in front of you. To not have to hide himself, to not have to pretend that everything is fine when he's broken inside. So when he comes to you, it means that he wants to feel safe enough to show that weakness."

"I know. I'll leave you to your duties." It was kind of Sasuke to offer reassurance in his own way, but that did little to quell the guilt that was poisoning his veins. He was the one who asked Shisui to tell Minato everything. That's what had sparked the request to see Inari. "I'll see you later." Intentional or not, he had reopened wounds that had barely begun to heal and now, all he could do was wait. Wait for that damn report to be over. He doesn't bother to wait for a reply before leaving. He'd wait for Shisui where the other man would know where to find him. His sanctuary. His room.

* * *

The elevator beeps when it reaches the office at the very top of the headquarters. Out of it steps a lone soldier, the door closing behind him. With dark determination in his gaze, he raises a hand and knocks on the office door.

"Come in. The door is open." Minato's voice pierces through the air. Taking a glance at the clock, the blond didn't have to wonder who was visiting him. Based on his estimates, Taka had likely arrived back and Shisui would be reporting soon.

It wasn't something he was looking forward to. Witnessing the fallout from Shisui's excursion to Inari wouldn't be pleasant. Unfortunately, it was a necessary evil. The only condition Shisui had given and those files were too important to deny a request especially one so within the other man's right to ask. It was also inevitable. Sooner or later, Shisui would have seen the remains of Inari. Perhaps it was better they had ripped that bandaid off relatively early.

Shisui enters the office, his features schooled to be completely blank. He'd reactivated the implant with the emotional buffer solely for this purpose. He would give his report and he wouldn't break and give up halfway.

He approaches Minato's desk and kneels before it. "Captain Shisui Uchiha, reporting in." He said the words out of habit, but they were no less true now than they were then.

"You don't have to kneel, but please make your report Captain Uchiha." He wanted to offer the other man more time to compose himself. It was the humane thing to do, but Minato knew that look all too well. Shisui was going to give his report now. The entire room could collapse around them and he'd likely still do it because he was a man on a mission.

Shisui rises to his feet and retreats from the desk, then raises his arm to place his hand on one of the projection screens connected to the computer interface in the middle of the room. "Within the files that you haven't been able to access, there are abstract designs, schematics, and software programs for all of the performance enhancing implants that our engineering division were working on." He fills the screen with a million and one files, then picks out the nine folders that were locked together right from the very beginning of their conception.

"The Bijuu Project, conceived to create the most efficient and lethal soldiers alive. The projects were still experimental, but I served as one of the guinea pigs for these implants, including a series promoting complex cellular regeneration to increase survival rate of agents on dangerous assignments. Many of the experiments were considered unethical, but every participant on the list was there voluntarily. The data should be of interest to your engineers." He inputs a series of complex codes and the files unlock, spilling the blueprints for creating perfect supersoldiers across the screens spread out along the walls of the room.

"It's easy to see why such extreme measures would prove tempting in a time of war. Still, it's a relief to know participation was voluntary." The alternative was enough to make even Minato sick to his stomach. "You are correct, though. It will be of great interest to our engineers. I'm presuming there is more?"

Shisui nods. His fingers reach for three more folders and he lays them open, this time filling the screens with faces, each stamped with one of three insignias. "This is a roster of all of the high-ranking officers who served in the main forces under General Senju, under General Uchiha, and who served in General Uchiha's secret Black Ops division." His own face is included among the other Black Ops agents on the roster. "The roster details every major operation and project each officer was involved in, save for the confidential ones carried out by the Black Ops."

He pulls another file onto the screens and unlocks it. "The smaller attached file is where the encrypted files of the Black Ops are found. They include mission details on who was assigned to each mission, what was found, and what casualties were incurred or caused. It also includes a Black Ops casualty roster." Shisui had seen a lot of death in his time during the Black Ops, and he'd seen many an agent disappear on a mission and never return. After all, they were never supposed to leave a body to recover. "I believe that you might find it useful to compare the results of some of the missions to what you've found in your own investigations. I imagine that it will fill in a lot of blind spots and blank spaces."

Minato blinks as he examines what Shisui was laying out before him. "I never expected this level of detail. The tactical advantage of this can't be overstated." Their own history was so sparse and many gaps were being filled before his very own eyes at incredible rates. "I see you were rather...influential."

"…Yes." Shisui had headed a division of the Black Ops personally. He'd overseen missions that were of the most critical and most secret importance. "Most of the other locked files are projects undertaken by the medical and engineering divisions, and I had no part in their experiments and procedures." There was just one problem left to face as he uses his uncle's master override codes to unlock the files one by one. "I've heard that there's a file called…Project Nightingale."

"Understood. I do appreciate your cooperation." He frowns, interlocking his fingers together. This matter needed to be approach delicately, but swiftly. Perhaps the direct tactic would work best after all? "What can you tell me about Project Nightingale?"

"…Nothing." Shisui turns, a hint of confusion breaking the blank mask on his face. "Until I was told about it by Itachi, I had no idea it existed. I don't know what it contains or what sorts of security measures might be on it. So far, security on all of the files has been overridden by the master codes I possess. I haven't touched that file before, but from what I gathered, it's proven the trickiest to open, right?"

"Indeed. It is the trickiest and therefore we can only assume it is the most important." He hadn't expected that. Shisui didn't even know?

Shisui shifts slightly as he watches the blond man's brow furrow. "You thought that I knew and was deliberately keeping it secret."

"I assumed you were doing so for understandable reasons, yes." The expression on Minato's face softens further. "I can only imagine what it must be like for you in your position. Were our roles reversed, I would be cautious as well."

"Yes, but…" Shisui glances back at the screens and finds the folder stamped with a very familiar crest in the center of the Black Ops swirling red insignia. "…I'll admit now that I don't know all of the secrets that my uncle kept. I knew more than…I think anyone other than General Senju. But Uncle Madara was a very careful and secretive man. Everything he did, he did to protect the home he loved and the people who depended on him for safety. This file, though…" This was the contradiction that Shisui hadn't ever seen coming. "I don't know what's in it, and I've only ever heard Nightingale used in reference to one asset."

"He was a wise man. Considering the conflict of his day, loose lips could have devastating consequences." He pauses hearing the hesitation in Shisui's voice. This needed to be handled with great care. "And what asset was he referring to?"

"Every Black Ops agent was referred to by a codename, an animal that he felt they embodied. Snake, Hawk, Dragon, Wolf, Sparrow…" The list would go on and on. Shisui knew them all. "Every one of us, when masked, would use that name instead of any personal marks of identification. Nightingale was the name he chose for me when I joined the Black Ops."

"I see. That does explain a great deal." So, that was why Shisui's body had been preserved. He was the keystone of whatever Project Nightingale was. "I'm certain together we will get to the bottom of the matter."

"Yes, Sir." Shisui raises his hand to the logo and immediately, a light shines from the screen and right into his left eye, scanning his iris. Then, a virtual scan pad appears and he presses his hand to it, allowing it to scan his palm and fingerprints. A user interface pops up, demanding a password.

First, Shisui tries his uncles overriding passcode. But when it fails and the screen flashes red, he frowns. There should be nothing that the master code couldn't get him access to. But…net, he tries entering his own personal passcode. To his moderate surprise, the screen turns green.

A soft female voice addresses him. "Who seeks access to Project Nightingale?"

"Naori?" Shisui blinks bemusedly.

"User invalid. Please try again."

Shisui's brow furrows and he clears his throat. "Captain Shisui Uchiha. Agent Nightingale."

The woman's voice warms slightly. "Voice recognition accepted, please proceed to step five."

Minato stares. Madara had certainly gone the extra mile when it came to security. "Excellent work. What does step five entail, though?"

"I don't know." This was more security on one file than Shisui had ever seen before. What secrets had his uncle had that he was so desperate to hide?

Instead of the female voice, this time, he's greeted by a familiar, deep, rich voice that he knew almost as well as his own. "The lark is there to greet the dawn. The sparrow to meet the sun. But when does my nightingale sing?"

That one question nearly breaks Shisui's heart all over again. He feels the implant controlling his emotions begin to flicker. "Uncle…"

"When does my nightingale sing?"

Shisui's face grows pale, but he clenches a fist and takes a deep breath. "When darkness falls and shadows rise, our work begins. The nightingale sings of death and secrets in the night. And I am your singing nightingale."

The logo flashes brightly and expels a torrent of files and information. One screens on either side of Shisui, his face and those of his three teammates appear, complete with physical and psychological profiles, mission logs, and three death certificates.

Minato could only stare in awe. The level of detail and personal information was simply stunning and more than a little frightening. He'd heard the stories of course, but apparently the man surpassed even the myth around his life. "Well, I see your uncle was a man who preferred a personal touch."

Shisui remains silent, his eyes taking in everything that his uncle had included in the file. It was…unlike anything he ever could have imagined. Every single one of his missions, right down to the minutes recorded by the interface in his helmet. Countless hours of audio and video footage, hundreds of written reports, statistics and probability on the outcomes of his missions, as well as his mission success rate. Ninety-eight percent. His entire career with the Black Ops was in there.

But the moment he reaches for the screen to touch it, the screen warps and a video file appears. It sets itself to play all by itself.

And on the screen, a man with stern features and a lion's mane of wild dark hair sits in a high-backed chair behind a desk, looking all the world like the esteemed general he was. "If you've gotten this far into our most confidential files, then I will assume that you've found my pride and joy and the most talented of my agents, my nephew Shisui. If not, then I commend your skills at breaking into files that you have no business seeing. The self-destruct is now active and will destroy this installation in thirty seconds unless you prove that you've accessed these files with my nephew's consent."

"Agent Uchiha...do you know how to prove it?" Minato's heart skips several beats at the knowledge. Self-destruct. They were going to blow up if they didn't meet whatever standard for consent Madara had set up.

A vein twitches in Shisui's temple and he brings up an interface desperately, already typing in as many codes as he can think of as a timer appears and starts ticking down. Thirty. Twenty-five. Twenty. Fifteen. Ten… "Fucking hell, Uncle Madara! What kind of stupid trap is this!?"

The timer freezes at eight seconds.

"Apparently, swearing was the proof of consent?" Minato lets out a nervous chuckle of relief. That could have ended horrifically.

The Madara on the video leans back in his chair and chuckles sadistically. "It seems that you've stopped the self-destruct. Well done, Shisui. I keep telling you to control that temper of yours, but you really never change. You're still that little boy I took home with me when Kagami regrettably passed away."

Shisui's lips twitch, unimpressed with his uncle's tricks. "Uncle Madara always did like his traps and tricks and mind-fucks." It was an Uchiha family trait.

"With all due respect Captain Uchiha, your uncle was crazy and quite possibly a sadist." Minato groans as he tries to will his heart to stop beating so frantically.

"And with all the love I have for him, I agree." Shisui could tell stories for days about all of the sadistic tricks that his uncle had played on him as he was training Shisui in his youth. "You should have seen the mental gauntlet he put me through when I joined the Black Ops…"

On the screen, Madara taps his fingers together as if thinking. "…Captain Uchiha…Nightingale…Shisui. I don't know when you will see this message, or if you will at all. I don't know if you'll remember the day that we put you into stasis. But I do." He sighs and the stress lines in his skin become a little more visible. Around his mouth and eyes. "Its been six years now since we put you to sleep. The engineers assure me that they'll keep your pod safe and up to date. I'm diverting a considerable amount of the Black Ops resources into this project because I believe that if I don't keep you safe, we really will lose everything."

"It seems they were resources well spent." Minato watches the entire scene unfold in disbelief. He doubted that even Madara had foreseen how long Shisui would end up in that pod. These were the actions of a desperate man in even more frantic times.

Shisui watches the screen in a daze, mesmerized by the sight of his uncle.

"Shisui…" Madara laces his fingers together and closes his eyes. "I don't know if you'll remember this. The engineers told me that often, what someone is told right before being put into stasis isn't retained in the short term memory. So, for you, and for the pleasure of whoever has deemed it necessary to look into these files, I will explain. I will explain Project Nightingale, our time capsule project where we have placed every iota of data that we have, from the daily lives of our citizens right to the most secret assignments of our Black Ops, into a willing host. A host that we then put to sleep, with the intention of waking our time capsule when we had finally achieved peace. A time capsule into which we have been and will continue to place weekly updates with all new information we gather ad infinitum…until the day comes when you finally wake, Shisui. Because I fear that Inari will be the target of disaster, and there might be nothing we can do to stop it."

Minato grimaces. Madara's fears had turned out to be well-placed. They had tried their hardest, but nothing had been able to stop the tide of history. "I am so sorry, Shisui."

"I'm sorry, Shisui." Madara's words echo the sentiment as the image on the screen changes slightly. The sky behind Madara is ashy gray and streaked with reddish black fumes. The general himself looks far more worn, and his once black hair is now mostly silver. His face shows the signs of long years of sadness. "I had hoped that we would have you awake before the end of my lifetime. But if you are seeing this, then it means that I am dead, and that you are in a future I know nothing about. "It has been over fifty years since we put you to sleep. I have retired from my position, but still remain on to consult the new generations. I also remain in charge of Project Nightingale and will keep charge of the project until the last of my days."

"Uncle…" Shisui's eyes widen and his hands shake, so he clenches them to still them.

The old general sighs softly and brushes silvery locks from his face. "Every week, I make a trip down to the laboratory to visit you. You look just the same as the day we put you to sleep. I think I've done more reading aloud in the last ten years than I have in all of the rest of my life. Sometimes I wonder what sort of world you'll wake to. I hope…with all of my heart that you will wake to a peaceful one. You were so young, filled with so much potential…and you never deserved the life that was forced on you."

"I watched you change from a boy into a man, and then into a soldier. And I find myself wishing I'd put you to sleep sooner." Madara's face twists with regret. "You were nothing less than my son, and I asked you to do terrible, impossible things for the sake of our people. And for that…I am sorry. I am sorry…and I hope that when you wake, it is to a peaceful world. And if it's not, I hope that you can make it so. Because we have put all of our hopes in you. Make the future better than the past. And Shisui…be happy. I want you to find something to live for. I don't want you to waste you life away. The past is done and there is nothing that you can do for us but carry our legacy forward. Make yours a world and a life worth living for, and that will be enough." After a moment of silence, the video file beeps and the recording comes to an end.

And Shisui sinks to the floor, lost and alone.


	13. Chapter 13

**Stolen Time**

**celestia193's Author's Note:** Happy Holidays everyone! In celebration of the holidays, however you may or may not celebrate them, we give you...fluff! And a little angst. But mostly fluff! Enjoy the fluff and the Yuletide season.

Chapter 13

Waiting was one of the worst forms of torture known to man. Itachi had been told on more than one occasion he was a genius, but right now his brilliant mind was working against him. With each painful passing second, his mind conjured up yet another image of Shisui's anguish and his own role in causing said torment.

Sadly, he couldn't actually do anything about until Shisui sought him out. Sasuke had been right. Shisui would come when he was ready. For now, Itachi needed something to do. So he was reorganizing his closet. Did his closet need it? No. Was he going to do it anyway? Damn right he was. If nothing else it was busy work for his hands and a slight distraction for his mind. He'd try his best to focus on his wardrobe and not on Shisui for the time being. He'd be no use to the other man if he went insane with worry.

But then there's an almost inaudible knock on the door. Slow. Uncertain. Hesitant. Easily blown away, like smoke in the wind.

Itachi doubted he'd ever answered a door quicker in his life. As soon as he hears the quiet knock, he springs into action and opens it. "Shisui."

Dark, haunted, lonely eyes glace uncertainly at Itachi as the door opens. Shisui wasn't sure of anything anymore, but…if there was anything that might finally go right…maybe it would be this. "…Hey, Itachi." He shifts his weight from one foot to the other and his fingers fidget anxiously. "Could I…"

Itachi smiles as he brushes his lips against Shisui's, pulling the other man into the room. He wastes no time in locking the door behind him. He'd come. He was beyond devastated, but Shisui was here. Itachi wouldn't make things more difficult for Shisui than they already were. "Always. You can always come to me."

Shisui feels the warmth of Itachi's hand in his own. Itachi was always so warm… "Why?" Why was he worth it? Why did Itachi try so hard for his sake? Shisui was a mess and he knew it. His uncle had known it too and admitted as much. Taken responsibility for it, even.

"Because I love you and I know you're suffering." Itachi sighs, looking up into beautiful, but broken eyes. He gives Shisui's hand a soft squeeze. "But I'm here. You're not alone."

He gives Itachi's hand a weak squeeze and closes his eyes. "…I feel alone." Everything he had ever known had been stripped away from him, and now he knew why. "I'm Project Nightingale."

"I have only the vaguest idea what that truly means, but you're still Shisui." Itachi tugs on his hand leading him to the bed before nudging him onto it. Almost faster than one could blink, he'd straddled Shisui's hips. "To me that's far more important and while I can't pretend to grasp more than the smallest sliver of what you've gone through, you're still not alone."

Shisui offers no resistance, he merely stares up at Itachi bemusedly. "You don't want to know about it?" It seemed to be all that people wanted to know about these days.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious, but I know you. You already told Minato whatever you knew." Itachi sighs, pressing a soft kiss against Shisui's lips. "You've done what you needed to do today. Let someone else carry the weight of the world on their shoulders for awhile."

Dark eyes widen, then slide shut as tears stream down Shisui's cheeks. He inhales a tiny, staggered breath and raises his hands to wrap his arms tightly around Itachi's waist. His uncle wanted him to be happy. Itachi wanted him to be happy. He…wanted to be happy. It was just so hard to be happy when everything he touched left him eventually. He presses a desperate, trembling kiss to Itachi's lips. "Don't disappear…please…"

Itachi returns the kiss, caressing the side of Shisui's face. "It's alright. I'm not going anywhere. Just try to relax. It's okay. Really." He kisses his forehead.

Reluctantly, Shisui closes his eyes and rolls Itachi over onto his side. He presses Itachi close to him and tucks his face into the crook of Itachi's neck. Right now, Itachi was the most solid thing that he could touch. Everything else was just falling away piece by piece, but Itachi…Itachi was still here. Still solid. "…Itachi, I…I want to love you." He'd just never really let himself…feel like that before. Not since the last time. It was too risky, for both him ad anyone he loved.

"I know you do and it's alright if you can't say the words now." Itachi allows himself to be rolled over and held. "The feelings are there and that's what matters most."

Shisui nods slowly, the tears refusing to stop as they trail silently down his face. Then he begins to shake with quiet, trembling sobs. It was like when he was a child and his parents had just died. The loneliness, the uncertainty… And just like Madara had come to pull him out of the darkness, Itachi was here to offer him his hand. His heart. And Shisui hated that he could only offer Itachi the broken pieces of his.

"Shisui, just focus on me. You're safe now. Nothing's going to happen to either of us." Itachi kisses away his tears, rubbing Shisui's arm. He needed to be grounded.

After a time, Shisui's sobs soften slightly and his grip loosens around Itachi. He hiccups once, twice, then sighs as his head gently falls limply against the covers of the bed, still tucked against Itachi.

Itachi smiles and brushes the bangs away from Shisui's eyes. "Sleep well." He looked so different when he was asleep. So peaceful.

* * *

Shisui slowly wakes up tucked up against something warm. He couldn't remember falling asleep, but he felt…different. He wasn't sure if that was better or not, but it was something at least.

Slowly, he takes stock of his surroundings and lifts a hand to rub the sleep from his eyes. And when he finishes, he blinks and finds gentle onyx eyes staring at him. He blinks again bemusedly. "…Itachi?"

"Shisui." Itachi smiles and kisses Shisui's forehead. "You slept through the night." It had been the most endearing sight that Itachi had ever seen and he'd dozed off several times himself. The feeling of Shisui's body heat was soothing.

"…The whole night?" Shisui frowns slightly. How long had it been since he'd gotten a full night's sleep? He was rather glad he'd changed out of his armour after reporting to Minato now, otherwise he would be as stiff as a frozen twig after sleeping that long. He hums softly and the faintest smile curves his lips. "I…haven't slept that long next to someone since…I was sixteen, I think."

"The whole night and I'm flattered." Itachi curls against Shisui, enjoying the closeness. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired but…less confused now." Yesterday had answered a lot of questions for Shisui. It still hurt, but now it felt more like a dull ache than the sharp, throbbing pain of a knife to the heart. "I know why I'm here, now."

"To be my ridiculously attractive pillow? Absolutely." Itachi rests his head on Shisui's shoulder, but his expression grows softer. "Why?"

"Well, while I wouldn't put it past my uncle to ensure that I had a nice boyfriend to spend time with…not exactly." Shisui closes his eyes and lays his forehead against Itachi's. "Project Nightingale was my uncle's plan to take all of the information collected before the destruction of Inari and preserve it inside of a living host, someone who could protect it and be protected for as long as Inari was still standing. A trove of knowledge protected as a last resort…and meant to be retrieved in an era of peace."

"Then his plan succeeded and I'm glad that you're here." Itachi kisses Shisui's cheek, watching a million emotions reflect back at him from those soulful eyes. "I'm sorry for what you lost, but just be being here...you help their memory go on."

"I know." It had taken his uncle to pound it into his head, but…Shisui could tentatively say that…he was glad to be here too. Especially here in Itachi's bed. It was definitely the nicest place he'd ever woken up. "And you never gave up on me, even when I gave you more than enough reason to." He glides his fingers along Itachi's cheek and leans in to press a tender kiss to Itachi's lips. "You're a treasure, you know that, right?"

"Would it sound vain if I said of course I know that. I am an Uchiha." He laughs, returning the kiss, marveling at the feeling of Shisui's lips against his.

With a brief chuckle, Shisui's eyelashes flutter as his eyes close. He runs his fingers through Itachi's hair to tilt his head back and deepen the kiss. His other hand finds Itachi's hip and pulls the gorgeous man flush against him beneath the blankets. Yes, he could definitely use a distraction.

He returns the kiss and arches against Shisui. "Yes, you're definitely my favorite pillow."

"Good." But Itachi was talking rather a lot, and Shisui did always have a liking for talking with action rather than just words. So he slides his tongue into Itachi's mouth to silence and seduce him, then rolls Itachi onto his back to settle himself between Itachi's legs.

He smiles, kissing back with all his might. Itachi could only blush at where Shisui had settled. His heart was pounding and Itachi could swear he could hear blood pouring in his ears. "Very good." It looked like it was going to get even better, though. Fuck. Was Shisui about to do what he thought he was?

Shisui smirks and lowers a hand to rub where he felt Itachi's interest growing. He knew the look on Itachi's face well. But who would have thought that his bossy engineer would be so bashful. "You seem a little worked up, Itachi."

Itachi groans and bucks into that hand. "Well, that's because your face is in close proximity to my cock. Who wouldn't be worked up?" He was only human. "You're giving me a handjob too." And fuck did that feel good.

"Oh, so you want me to use my mouth on you Itachi?" Shisui smirks wickedly as he runs a hand up Itachi's stomach and places a kiss to flat, firm abs. "You want me to take your cock into my warm, wet mouth and use my tongue to rub and lick your cock and suck you off until you cum down my throat?"

He shivers at Shisui's wicked tone and suggestive words. "Fuck yes, I do." The images his...well, Shisui was evoking were sending a tsunami of lust rippling through his body.

"Then grab something and hold on tight." Shisui chuckles mischievously as he tugs down Itachi's pants to free the straining cock within the silky soft material beneath. He breathes a long, hot breath over the reddened, throbbing length and presses a kiss to the head. "And you don't have to hold back, I know how to play rough."

Itachi hisses in pleasure at the feeling of Shisui's breath teasing him. Of his kiss. "I'll keep that in mind." He pants, gripping the sides of the bed. This was like something out of an erotic dream. He almost couldn't believe it was happening.

Shisui laughs once, then takes Itachi's cock into his mouth and swallows it down without hesitation. His tongue flicks against the underside, rubbing at the sensitive flesh insistently. He grazes his teeth over the soft skin as a gentle preview of things to come.

He groans. Fuck. He had died and gone to some sort of paradise. Shisui's mouth was a wonder of the universe. He was sure of it. "Fuck!"

Shisui rides the growing thrusts of Itachi's hips and hollows his cheeks to increase the suction as he swallows around Itachi's cock. He presses the tip of his tongue into the slit at the head and tastes the precum dripping from the throbbing appendage.

It was taking all his willpower not to fuck that beautiful throat raw. "S-Shisui, I'm going to cum." His entire world was awash in desire. Pleasure cascading everywhere.

A hum races down Shisui's throat as he gives it another hard suck. Itachi was so beautiful when he was about to tip over the edge.

Itachi snarls out Shisui's name in pure bliss as he surrenders to the ecstasy swimming through his veins. Fuck. Who could possibly resist that perfect mouth sucking them off?

Shisui swallows calmly, then releases Itachi's cock from his mouth and presses his lips just below Itachi's navel. "I think I like hearing my name spill incoherently from your pretty mouth."

He pants and tries to catch his breath. The afterglow was still gloriously intense. "That's good. I definitely love you sucking me off."

"Then I'll be sure to do it more often." Shisui smiles languidly as he places his arms over Itachi's stomach and rests his head there. "You really are so beautiful, Itachi." Was this what his uncle had sent him here to experience?

Itachi smiles and plays with Shisui's hair. "So are you. You're the most stunning person I've ever met."

Shisui smiles softly. "Thanks." He leans into the touch and closes his eyes, humming softly in enjoyment. "You're really good at that."

"Really good at what?" He continues toying with the raven colored locks.

"Playing with my hair. It feels nice." It was a silly little thing, but it was something so…normal that Shisui couldn't help but feel happy about it. And it helped to chase some of the ache away.

"Oh well, I like your hair and the rest of you." Itachi smirks a bit, leaning down to kiss the top of Shisui's hair.

Shisui chuckles and climbs back over Itachi to plant a soft kiss on his lips. "And I'm sure that you'll like the rest of me when it's finally time for me to find something hard to bend you over on."

He kisses back and raises an eyebrow. "What makes you think it won't be the other way around?"

"Because you already take such good care of the mess of my emotions that I want to take care of you for a change." Shisui leans down to nibble along Itachi's ear. "And I'm going to do that the best way I know how."

"Nibbling on my ears is cheating. Those are sensitive." Itachi squirms and arches against Shisui. Still, how could he argue with that logic? "I can't bicker with you over who tops when you're being that adorable."

"I've been told that I do that well." Shisui laughs and presses his face to Itachi's neck. "But it's been a long time since I had a reason to be."

"Mmm well I'm so happy to inspire you to rediscover your adorableness." Itachi smiles and wraps his arms around Shisui.

Shisui would bet that Itachi was going to help him rediscover a lot of things he'd forgotten about himself. It had been so long since he'd had a chance to be normal…it might be nice to be normal again. Once his last mission was finally carried out. "Yeah…now I think you have somewhere to be, Itachi." He smacks Itachi's ass teasingly. "You do still have a job to do after all, and it's not all about babysitting me."

"I think I'll enjoy the moment awhile longer and then take a shower before leaving." Itachi stretches as he snuggles against Shisui. Work could wait awhile.

"Alright, nap first, then a shower, and then I'll go clean myself up while you work." Because Shisui knew that he was still a bit of a mess. After all of the crying and generally not caring about himself, Shisui knew he had a lot to start looking after.

"Deal." Itachi smiles, closing his eyes. He wanted to savor this moment. "I love you."

Shisui smiles and kisses the top of Itachi's head. "You are my light, Itachi."

"And you're my everything." He relaxes. Shisui may not have said it officially, but it was close enough. He loved Shisui and Shisui loved him. That was all that mattered.

* * *

Itachi had always loved his job, but today it had been almost impossible to concentrate. He'd never been so relieved as when he was finally allowed to leave and left to his own devices. Memories of his erotic encounter with Shisui were just too distracting to focus on much of anything else.

That had been about two hours ago. Now, he finds himself making his way into Shisui's room, carrying are rather large bag in his hand. "I'm back. I got you something. I figured it was about time you had your own wardrobe."

Not that Shisui had any reason to protest Itachi suddenly appearing in his room, especially if it involved clothes, or taking them off, but…this was a bit unexpected. He tilts his head as he stares at Itachi from where he lay reading from a tablet on his bed. "You want to play dress-up with me?"

"Maybe a little." Itachi feels his cheeks heat up. He could only hope he wasn't actually blushing. "You were going to need more clothes at some point anyway and I already knew your size." In more ways than one, but that was besides the point.

Shisui smirks darkly as he puts the tablet down to sit across his lap. "Are you sure you know my size, Itachi? I don't think dressing me up would be your first priority if you did."

He was definitely blushing now. "Pervert and I never said how long the clothes had to stay on." Itachi opens the bag, pulling out a silken shirt. "I thought it might make you feel more comfortable if you had your own clothes as well. Silk would probably look good on you." Itachi doubted anything wouldn't, but he wasn't going to puff up Shisui's ego anymore than it already was. That smirk was already causing a colony of butterflies to do backflips inside his stomach as it was.

Now THAT has Shisui raising an eyebrow. For almost as long as he could remember, he'd been a soldier, and that meant that he rarely saw such luxury outside of his most sensitive infiltration missions. It was an expensive and unnecessary luxury…but Shisui smiles. "Thank you, Itachi." He reaches for the shirt and holds it in his hands. And despite himself, he laughs. "Why do I get the feeling that if you have your way, I'll look like a member of high society in no time?"

"There's no IF in this scenario." He hands Shisui the shirt with a smile. Good. His...well, he wasn't really sure what to call Shisui at this point, his…whatever Shisui was to him wasn't going to protest Itachi 'spoiling' him. "I always get my way sooner or later and you will if you like. If you prefer more practical or casual styles, I've got options for those as well. I thought it was best to try a bit of everything. Variety is the spice of life."

"Well, that depends entirely on what I'm doing. This…" Shisui rubs the against his cheek and grins. "This feels like something I might wear when lounging around and wanting something soft. When I'm working out, I prefer stretchier fabric that can move with my body, especially since I put more than a few outfits through their paces and wore them right out. When I was a teenager and actually wore casual clothes regularly, I liked them form-fitting and comfortable." Shisui smiles wryly. "And I'll admit that I was more than a little vain back then, but I grew out of most of that."

"You grew out of it?" Itachi arches a skeptical eyebrow of his own, playfully pinning Shisui to the bed. "I'm not sure that's entirely the case, but it'd be...hard not to be a little vain in your place."

Shisui's lips twitch and he breaks from Itachi's grasp, grabs Itachi's wrists, and pins his partner much more firmly to the bed when he rolls them over and straddles Itachi's hips. "And you aren't? Looking the way you do, I'm surprised you haven't organized a pageant in your own honor."

"You're so competitive." Itachi chuckles, nipping his ear lightly. "Rolling me over like that, but I'm not usually. Outside beauty is based mostly on luck. It's what's here that matters most." He manages to free one hand and places it over Shisui's heart. It was all too easy to revel in the feeling underneath his touch. It didn't matter that fabric separated skin from skin, he could still feel the powerful heartbeat underneath. "And that's where you will beat me in a pageant every time, but I'm honest enough to admit that the pretty wrapping paper is a nice bonus."

Dark eyes glow a soft scarlet and Shisui uses his free hand to glide his fingers along Itachi's cheek. "So now I'm a present for you, am I? Dropped here right into your lap."

"Yes, it seems a rather apt metaphor." Itachi smiles, capturing one of Shisui's fingers in his mouth and sucking lightly. "Lovely to look at, but even more enjoyable to unwrap."

The scarlet eyes darken in an instant with suppressed desire. Shisui moves his fingers slowly against Itachi's lips and tongue. "Looks like someone wants to return that favor…"

He swirls his tongue around Shisui's fingers in a slow, playful way. "They do say it is better to give than to receive."

Shisui smirks and leans down to press a kiss under Itachi's jaw. "Whoever said that must never have gotten into bed with me. I think I could change your mind on that quickly once we've gotten to…know each other a little better."

"Promises, promises." Itachi smiles up at Shisui, mischief shimmering in his dark irises. "But you have my attention."

"Itachi, imagine a fire burning deep inside you pushing, pressing, filling you up. Hard, solid, flexible, and pounding deep inside you to touch all of the secret places that you wish that one special person would touch and never stop touching." He presses his kisses closer to Itachi's ear. "Imagine that feeling of being completely possessed by someone, feeling their hands all over you, worshiping you in every way that you deserve to be worshiped. Fingers exploring, lips kissing you everywhere, branding you with every touch."

Itachi shivers at the wickedly provocative words and sultry tone in Shisui's voice. The man had a talent when it came to the seduction using only his words. "You do p-paint quite the alluring picture." Was it possible to achieve climax just by listening to someone's voice? Itachi wasn't sure, but Shisui did make the possibility seem...more than plausible.

"Do I need to get you off again, Itachi?" Shisui smirks wickedly as he sits up and slowly lowers himself onto Itachi's lap, where one part of Itachi's body was definitely interested in what he was saying. "Should I make time in my daily schedule for sucking you off, Itachi?"

"I definitely wouldn't protest." Hell, Itachi might encourage hourly at this rate. He wraps his arms around Shisui, kissing his nose.

"Then I think nine in the evening sounds like a good time for it. But I'm more than willing to start a little early." Shisui laughs softly and nuzzles against Itachi's cheek.

It was slow. Unorthodox, maybe. Shisui could feel his broken heart starting to stir again. It hurt so much, but…Itachi helped to make it ache a little less. Itachi always seemed to make things ache a little bit less.


	14. Chapter 14

Stolen Time

**Authors' Note:** Thanks for the reviews. We hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 14

Powerful muscles flex beneath the thin, tight black fabric of the sleeveless, high-collared shirt as Shisui stretches in preparation for the training exercise. Already, he can feel Itachi's lingering gaze burning into his back. "Are you sure that you're going to be able to focus, Itachi, or are you planning on staring at my ass all day?"

"I think you'll find I'm an exceptional multi-tasker. I can stare at your ass and monitor your vitals just fine." Itachi tries his best not to blush at being caught ogling as he turns on his tablet. "This will allow me to do the latter. I'm interested to see how your implants function when you're both passively and actively using them."

Shisui looks back over his tattooed shoulder and smirks. "Of course, how could I forget? You just want me to run this obstacle course for three hours so that you can measure the effects of my implants on my body. That's all."

Itachi bites his lower lip. Trying not to blush was a futile effort when Shisui Uchiha was involved. "Yes, such data is essential in understanding your implants. If I happen to enjoy the view while collecting this critical information, well...that's just a happy happenstance."

With a chuckle, Shisui rises to his feet and turns to face Itachi. Truly, the an was adorable when he blushed. "Careful, Itachi that face of yours might make someone think we're up to something indecent in here." He twirls his fingers into Itachi's ponytail and presses a quick, heated kiss to Itachi's lips.

Itachi returns the kiss and smiles. "You're the one that started it. Now, get that well-sculpted ass of yours moving." If they were 'lucky', Shisui might even do it before Itachi got distracted by the other man's...charms again. If they weren't, well he could always complete the assessment another day.

Shisui's lips twitch, but he backs away obediently, turns, and takes five steps into a run before vaulting over the first obstacle and hoisting himself up onto the second level to begin his run. Ropes hang from the ceiling, daring him to grab hold and take flight. Poles cross his path, laid out in every way to help him change direction at a moment's notice.

He sprints twenty feet, then bends his knees and leaps into the air towards the third level. He tucks his legs in, his knees pressed to his chest for a moment as his momentum throws him into a backflip that uncurls to release him back into a run on the third level wall ringing the sixty foot tall room.

Itachi blinks. For a second, he forgot that his jaw actually was capable of closing. He'd known that Shisui was a special agent before being frozen. Itachi was aware of Shisui's implants and in theory he knew how they might assist him with all manner of tasks, but never had he seen so many feats of physical progress packed together in such a minuscule amount of time. "Incredible. I suppose it's safe to say the implants are still fully functional..."

Shisui's hand closes around a pole a foot above his head and he swings up in a half circle and releases his grip. He flies up an extra three feet and he hooks his knees around a rope, which swings away, taking him to another rope fifteen feet away. He swings from one to the next, spinning easily past a number of vertical poles in his way until he catches hold of one and uses it to hoist himself up onto a beam suspended from the ceiling forty-five feet in the air.

Despite the swinging, he races along it, crossing the distance of thirty feet in two and a half seconds before leaping off of it and twisting through the air. He lands cat-like on the next set of platforms and vaults off the first one, flipping onto the next hanging suspended ten feet away. Then, he shoots across it and springs towards a rope hanging between him and the next platform twenty-five feet away. But instead off reaching for the rope, he curls in on himself, ignoring it entirely as he sails through the sky.

Itachi stares as he watches the data being recorded as Shisui continues his testing. It was almost unbelievable. how fast he was going. "This has to be some sort of record."

As Shisui hits the next platform, the tablet in Itachi's hands beeps with the first results from Shisui's central data implants. His metabolism had sped up to increase calorie burn and his busy was producing insulin to match. His adrenaline levels were through the roof but being used as quickly as they were produced. His levels of testosterone were only just beginning to rise. And his cortisol and glucagon were remaining low and stable thus far.

Itachi stares as he watches the data being recorded as Shisui continues his testing. It was almost unbelievable. "He's producing adrenaline as fast as he's burning it off." He glances at Shisui's sugar levels. "I've never seen sugar burned off that fast." The cortisol and glucagon would kick in soon and start burning fat at this rate. "Then the growth hormones will kick in to heal the damage." It was a well-fashioned solution. One that had created the ultimate warrior as far as Itachi could tell in terms biochemistry. He continues muttering to himself and jots down a few notes.

A few tiny drops of sweat bead Shisui's brow as he climbs higher, using only his arms to pull himself up one of the ropes towards the ceiling. He could feel the thrum of blood pumping through his veins. A number flashes in his eye to tell him that his heart rate is at one hundred and ten and climbing. He could feel the burn begin to set in, telling him that he had two and a half hours of exertion left in him before he would need to rest. Knowing that, he smirks and wraps the rope around himself, then lets it go slack as he releases his grip and rolls down towards the floor like an acrobat suspended from the ceiling.

Itachi watches his boyfriend personify a certain predatory grace with an effortless ease. It was enough to render him speechless. Shisui's heart rate was rising and so was Itachi's. Though for far different reasons. According to the reading projections, Shisui might be able to keep this up for well over two hours. Mostly thanks to the testosterone and HGH that were steadily rising.

With a single swing of his legs, Shisui changes the course of his direction entirely and lands on a lower platform leading to the third wall. He kicks off of it and takes off at a run, determined to spin over and around every single obstacle a dozen times before his time is finally up.

* * *

Shisui hums quietly as he strides shirtless back into the room Itachi had made him leave to go get a shower ten minutes ago. Apparently, trying to push the time on how long he could keep going was not on the menu today. He runs a soft white towel over his hair to dry the unruly curls that cover his neck and fall over his forehead and into his eyes. His lips twitch at the sight of Itachi leaning over his tablet and perusing no doubt a small mountain of data. "So, did you get enough readings to keep you happily researching the intimate workings of my body for a while?"

"This will keep me busy for awhile. Whoever designed your implants was a genius. I've never seen biochemistry utilized so efficiently before." Itachi hits save on a dozen or so readings that he had just finished looking over before turning his attention back to Shisui. "As for your body, I can't recall the last time I had such a lovely view while I was working."

"Should I walk around like this more often?" Shisui raises an eyebrow as he wills his lips not to curve into the smile he was suppressing with some difficulty. He lowers the towel to rest around his neck and raven curls drift wetly across his eyes as he tilts his head.

"Tempting. Like I said, I'm enjoying it, but I'll admit that I'm...a bit too territorial for that." Itachi could only imagine the types of looks Shisui would get if he walked around like that. He'd been fending off people with a stick.

Reluctantly, a smile curves Shisui's lips. "A typical Uchiha, then. It's good to know that some things never change." He sits in the chair opposite Itachi and reaches a hand up to brush back his wild curls. His onyx eyes twinkle with humor. "Or are you more of a noble knight who's determined to defend my virtue?"

"I'm more of a dragon that's hoarding your sexy posterior for myself if truth be told. We both know that you're not exactly an innocent maiden." Itachi chuckles and shakes his head at Shisui's musings.

"Definitely not innocent. I know how to use my body to get what I want. It's almost a pity that there's no more missions like that for me anymore. Those were the easy ones." Shisui hums thoughtfully as he looks at an old scar that streaks back across the flesh between his thumb an forefinger on his let hand.

"How'd you get this one, if you don't mind me asking?" Itachi's fingertips ghost along the ancient looking scar.

"Doing the same thing you just watched me do." Shisui turns his hand over to reveal matching scarring on the other side. "I was still getting used to my implants and how fast I could move. I was on an infiltration mission and misjudged how far I could jump. I caught the edge of a metal roof and nearly ripped my thumb off. Fortunately, a couple of long surgeries managed to save it and it healed up almost perfectly. I got all function back except for some of the pain and heat sensitivity in my thumb."

Itachi winces imagining the pain and gruesome scenario. It could have been worse, but no one wanted to lose a thumb. "Well, I'm glad they managed to save it. That's a hell of a steep learning curve, though. Were there a lot of instances like that?"

"I've had a number of accidents and incidents and close calls in my time. But nothing ever managed to kill me." Shisui turns his hand back over and gently takes Itachi's hand into his own. "I always had a rather steep learning curve. I had to learn how to be the best as fast as I could for the sake of those around me and for the sake of protecting my people. Every scar I have, I earned protecting them."

"I see...what about the scar on your left shoulder?" Itachi bites his lower lip. Curiosity was at war with his desire to respect Shisui's privacy.

Shisui chuckles quietly. "I had a sky-bike accident when I was sixteen and slammed into a tree when I swerved to avoid some kids that thought shooting balloons filled with paint into the sky would be a great idea. One of them hit my helmet and I crashed while I was trying to get the paint off. A tree branch caught my shoulder. Believe me, those kids were sorry when my uncle and his medics came for me."

"Oh. well, that wasn't what I expected. I can only imagine how furious he was." Itachi nods. It was a relief to hear that Shisui had at least some relatively normal childhood memories as well. That it hadn't all been about the mission. "What about the one on your right knee?"

Shisui glances down past the leg of his shorts and his smile dims slightly. He traces the pale, silvery line across his skin "That one was on a mission. A laser tripwire caught my knee when I was twenty. It got in deep before I got myself off of it. Fortunately, it was a clean cut, so it healed well. It cut my kneecap clean in half, but managed to avoid most of the cartilage." His smile brightens wryly. "That's how I learned about being more careful when sweeping for traps. And it's why they added extra features to my visual implants so I could detect those sorts of traps."

"It's a miracle you're alive, in so many ways." Itachi glances at the scare. He tries not to wince at the scenario Shisui was painting for him. "But that was a wise decision on your part. The learning curve was a bloody one, but you adapted well."

"Of course I did, I'm an Uchiha." Shisui squeezes Itachi's hands to reassure him. "My uncle always used to say that it takes five times more effort to kill an Uchiha because we're too strong, too prideful, and too stubborn to die."

"He was a smart man." Itachi smiles as he squeezes the hand back. "Anyway, I hope you'll have less near death experiences this time around."

"I don't think that will be a problem." And truly, Shisui doubted that he'd ever be in nearly as much danger here as he had been there. "There's no imminent threat of annihilation, which means that there are no missions for me. And even if there were, it's no longer a time of intense warfare. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't safe to be here. I would have just kept sleeping the centuries away…" And Shisui couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he'd woken up and Itachi wasn't there to walk him through the darkness.

"I'm glad. You deserve to enjoy your life. Fate wasn't kind to you last time, but as you said it's a different era now." Itachi offers Shisui a brave smile. He could only hope that the former agent would take his words to heart.

"You're right. I just still don't know what to do with it." His uncle wanted him to be happy. Well, Itachi made Shisui happy. But beyond that…all he could think of was going back to what he did before. He knew what Itachi's stance on the idea was, but it was all he knew, it was all he'd ever done. And to integrate into this new time and place…maybe it was time to start with something familiar and work his way out. "I want to go out into the field again."

Itachi blinks. He hadn't seen that coming, well he had, but not now, not at this moment. But maybe he should have. "Are you sure? Wouldn't you rather do something different this time around? Of course, if that's what you want...it'd be cruel to argue otherwise." Shisui deserved to choose his own life this time around even if the thought of the other man going into the field made Itachi feel nauseous.

"I'm sure. It might not be granted, but…if I'm going to properly make a home in your world and make it my own…I need to start with something familiar and make connections and bonds beyond myself. I need to establish my existence here, and the only way I know how to do that is by being a soldier again." Shisui pulls Itachi close enough to kiss him. "You wanted me to stay and make this place my home. I'm going to…try to do that. For you, for me, and to honor my uncle's efforts and wishes in getting me here at all. I wont lie and say that it's easy for me to do this. It's not. It feels like I'm giving up on everything and everyone I ever knew. But I promise you that I'll try."

"Have you always had to do things the hard way or is that a recent development?" Itachi tries to keep the tears at bay as he wraps his arms around Shisui's neck. He presses a soft kiss against his beloved's lips. "Never mind. You don't have to answer that. You are an Uchiha."

Yes…he was. "Itachi…" Shisui wraps his arms tightly around Itachi and slides him over the table to sit in his lap. He was still…not too confident about his ability to reassure and comfort Itachi, but he holds his special one tightly in his arms and presses back into the kiss to give Itachi the contact he wanted so badly.

"I know, Shisui. It's alright." Itachi smiles, indulging in his new favorite pastime of kissing Shisui for a moment before pulling away. "You deserve the freedom to make your own choices. This is one of them."

"Yes, it is." Shisui takes a deep breath, then sighs softly against Itachi's lips. "It could be that all I end up doing is going out to abandoned places to see if there's anything left behind, or something worth scavenging." That would probably be the best case scenario, in Itachi's eyes, so far as Shisui could figure. "Or it could be that there's still dangerous people out there and I'll be sent to deal with them and bring back their information. But Itachi, if that happens…I would rather it be me than you. If there's something out there that could hurt you, I want to find it first. I need something to protect, so I want to make that you."

"I know. I'm glad that you want to protect me and you're trying to make a life here." He smiles and burrows his face into the crook of Shisui's neck.

"You make it worth trying." Shisui closes his eyes to better sense the warmth of Itachi's skin against his own. The weight of Itachi in his lap. The soft sandalwood scent of Itachi's hair. It was…the closest feeling he'd had to peace in a very long time. Maybe…maybe this WAS peace. Maybe this was what his uncle sent him here to find.

* * *

Late into the evening, as the leader of the military installation goes over the day's paperwork, a knock on the door of Minato's office breaks the silence hanging in the air.

"Come in." Minato looks up from his paperwork hearing the knock on his door. That was strange. The hour was late enough that everyday business had concluded, but early enough that it likely wasn't a complete disaster knocking on his door.

The sound outside of the office ceases, then the door slides open and a darkly dressed figure steps inside. Equally dark eyes glance at the man behind the desk, before the figure crosses the room and comes to a stop in front of the desk. The last time he had been in this office, he'd broken down. This time, he would not. "Sir."

Minato offers Shisui a warm smile. He seemed nervous. Determined, but anxious. "Shisui, have a seat. What can I do for you?"

For a moment, the man before him sounded so much like Madara that Shisui couldn't help but stare. It was almost…nostalgic. But slowly, he takes a seat in the chair opposite Minato and takes a deep, quiet breath. "I know that it's not my place, after having asked that my implants remain where they are." It was an enormous request, and Shisui knew that, and he was grateful for it. "But…I would like to make another request of you, if you'll hear it."

"You can always ask, but unfortunately I can't promise anything until I hear the request." Minato takes a sip of his coffee, nodding for Shisui to continue.

Shisui sits tall and focused, his gaze steady and determined. "I'm sure that by now, you've delved into some of the files I unknowingly carried here to you, and I imagine that you've seen the preliminary report on my physical capabilities that Itachi put together earlier today. So I would think that you've surmised what I'm capable of."

"Yes, I'm well aware." Minato sets his drink down. So, it seemed Shisui wanted to cut straight to the heart of the matter. "And it is quite impressive to say the least."

With a nod, Shisui entwines his fingers in his lap. "I don't know if the Black Ops are still active, or if they've been retired in this time of relative peace, but if there is a place where my skills can do the most good, I would like for you to grant me a position there. I am not good at being idle, not when I have people to protect."

"They're still active, but more of a reserve team." Minato watches the man before him carefully. "The requirements to join are...strict by anyone's standards, but we both know that you would meet them. Are you sure this is what you want, though."

"Yes, it is." Off that, Shisui was certain. "It wouldn't be fair to others if I relegated myself to ordinary military work, or to civilian work when I know that I can do much more than that. And beyond that, I need a mission or goal, something long term, even if what comes of it is slow and the assignments are few and far between. If I'm not on assignments, I'm sure that I can help out with data analysis in the intelligence division, or implant development in the engineering division." That is, if Itachi didn't insist on taking up all of his free time. Which…Shisui actually wouldn't be opposed to.

"Very well. I'll see which openings would be best for your skill set then." He nods at him. "Welcome to the team. I do wish you'd take it easier on yourself, but if this is what your heart is set on...I can't oppose you on the grounds of practicality and freewill."

"Thank you." Shisui breathes a sigh of relief. He had feared that it would be harder to make his case. It was why he'd gone over all of the most important points of his argument three times on his way up to the office. "I appreciate your willingness to listen to my appeal."

"Shisui, I'd be an idiot to turn down such a skilled applicant." Minato shakes his head, observing the other man with anxious eyes. "I'll admit I have my concerns, but you've proven that you're not threat to us. Your skillset can only be an asset at this point. You can tell Kakashi that I said as much. I believe he's trying to eavesdrop outside the door."

"Oh I know he's eavesdropping. He's not as good at it as he thinks he is. But he recognized what my ranking tattoos meant, so I'm sure he expected this would happen eventually." It was why Shisui didn't feel at all threatened by his presence just outside the office.

"He should have or I'll be very disappointed." Minato chuckles, mischief dancing in his eyes. "After all, I trained him myself. I suppose he can show you the ropes."

"Thank you, Sir." As much as Shisui wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, he wouldn't. This was no time for him to show weakness. Slowly, he stands, preparing to dismiss himself from the man's presence. "Is there anything you want to know before I return to Itachi?"

"Just if I'll be getting an invitation to the wedding." Minato chuckles. Shisui was so serious. It wasn't healthy for a boy his age.

Shisui's dark eyes widen slightly and the faintest trace of pink colors his pale cheeks. Then he raises a hand to his mouth and coughs a laugh into his hand. His eyes glitter with humor and warmth as his fingers fall away. "I'll make sure that you're on the guest list, Sir."

"Excellent. I look forward to it. Though I do recommend keeping Gai away from the alcohol." Mirth dances in his eyes as he remembered the last time that man got drunk. "Dismissed. Best not to keep him waiting. He'd likely die before admitting it, but Itachi has always been a worrier."

"I know." Shisui sighs softly with a smile on his lips. What was he ever going to do with Itachi. "I'll await your summons." With a respectful nod of his head, he turns towards the door and strides towards it. He exhales a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. That was it, then. His appeal had been heard and accepted.

As the door shuts behind him, Shisui glances at the silver-haired man standing nonchalantly in the corridor, examining his nails. "Crawling around in the air ducts isn't very good for your health. You should wear a helmet with a breathing mask if you're going to sneak around like that."

"I'll take my chances. So, it sounds like it went well." Kakashi offers him an easygoing smile. "Do I get an invite too?"

"I'll leave that up to Itachi." Shisui watches the silver-haired man coolly. "Tell me Sir, is it my origins, my circumstances, or my motives that you mistrust enough to have your ear pressed to the door?"

"Neither. I've just always been curious." He didn't seem phased by the less than warm reception.

Shisui takes the answer in stride, the words ringing mostly true to him. "Then keep your eyes and ears open. Things may be different here, but I'm sure that there are some who wouldn't stop to question your motives and instead draw their own conclusions." A wry smile plays about his pale lips. "In the future, hide better. You were too obvious."

"You and Minato are the only ones who have ever caught me." Kakashi chuckles, shaking his head. "You should be flattered."

"I'll keep that in mind." Shisui glances at the man one last time before gliding past him as silently as a ghost. That one would definitely be among those he kept an eye on.


End file.
